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Thursday 24 May 2012

FRANCK POURCEL & HIS ORCHESTRA 1998 EMI REMASTERS ON CD

FRANCK POURCEL & HIS ORCHESTRA 1998 EMI REMASTERS ON CD

FRANCK POURCEL’s 1970 LP ‘Dancing in the Sun’ has been been lovingly restored by EMI (UK) in this rare CD set. Amazingly, this set did not contain any hit tune popularized by the Beatles despite its date of release. The title track evokes memories of a sunny Mediterranean coastal vacation. The girl in the floral sun dress probably brings one down memory lane even more. In keeping with the transition between the 1960s and 1970s, tracks like ‘Yellow River’, Bacharach’s ‘Make it Easy on Yourself’ and Pourcel’s own ‘Babysitter’ salute the groovier side of the change in decades. The mellower, reflective start of the 70s is signaled by ‘Lady D’arbanville’, ‘No Colour Time of the Day’, ‘Wandrin’ Star’, ‘Concerto pour Une Voix’ (Concerto for a Solo Voice), and the Carpenters hit ‘Close to You’. Pourcel does an unbelievably soft romantic version on the latter – take the listener on an evening promenade by a moonlit river and into a quiet candlelight wine bar. What he does is slow down the tempo, a la Rachmaninov, accentuate the note changes in Bacharach’s opening bars with a single tinkling piano/fender Rhodes and fill in the strings only midsection. There’s a fascinating touch of country guitars in ‘Snowbird’ and ‘Comme J’ai Toujours envie Aimer’. This is an album that captures the transition into 70s popular music – instrumentally… The other LP twinned with this release is ‘And Now…Pourcel’; it takes on the Euro-Atlantic pop charts of 1975 and turns in memorable renditions of ‘She’, ‘Emanuelle’, ‘Sugar Baby Love’, ‘One Man Woman’ and ‘Le Premier Pas’. Fresh off the glamour of France’s inauguration of the Concorde supersonic flight, Pourcel works his magic on some familiar favourites such as Verdi’s ‘Nabucco’, better known as ‘Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves’, and the Gene Kelly showstopper ‘Singin’ in the Rain’. Pourcel lightens up both stage pieces with some percussion while keeping the warm hum-along harmonies that characterize these musical greats. Interestingly, Pourcel kept out the disco heartbeat from this LP even though disco was breaking upon the music scene then!

POURCEL’s second double CD release features a compilation LP – THIS IS POURCEL - from 1969 featuring his ‘best hits’ from the preceding five years, as well as 1974’s ‘Franck Pourcel Plays the Cole Porter Story’. The track listing is as follows:
Disc One
1. Dancing In The Sun (Un Rayo Del Sol)
2. A Man Without Love
3. Love At First Sight (Je T'Aime Moi Non Plus)
4. Abacachi
5. Summertime
6. Anitra's Dance (Peer Gynt)
7. This Is My Song
8. Un Banc Un Arbre Une Rue
9. If I Were A Rich Man
10. It Must Be Him (Seul Sur Son Etoile)
11. Adelita
12. On A Clear Day You Can See Forever
13. Aranjuez Mon Amour
14. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
Disc Two
1. C'est Magnifique
2. I Love Paris
3. I've Got You Under My Skin
4. In The Still Of The Night
5. Easy To Love
6. True Love
7. Begin The Beguine
8. Night And Day
9. Just One Of Those Things
10. Ca C'Est L'Amour
11. So In Love
12. Don't Fence Me In

As most authentic remasters go, the entire LP is reproduced for digital formatting, including overlapping tunes. In the case of THIS IS POURCEL, it is ‘Dancing in the Sun’. This tune leads off the set of 14 tracks and is deliberately harmonized with the LP cover which features a brilliant sunrise set behind the wording. This ‘best of’ LP does not disappoint – it ranges from the semi-Latin, slightly Space Age Pop sound of ‘Dancing in the Sun’ to the serious mournful strokes of ‘Summertime’ to the Italianesque holiday strains of ‘A Man without Love’ [Cuando M’innamoro] and ‘This is my Song’. Both ‘Italians’ come complete with even mandolin sounds amidst the strings! Then there is the mushy romantic transformation of Serge Gainsbourg’s ‘Love At First Sight (Je T'Aime Moi Non Plus)’ minus the Jane Birkin sound-alike vocals featured on many instrumental covers of this hit. It evokes Paris in the Spring and the image of lovers strolling down the Champs Elysee. This is picture postcard Paris without being too clichéd.
Franck Pourcel does Cole Porter with a distinct mid-1970s vibe to it. ‘Cest Magnifique’ commences with a  trumpet blast reminiscent of 70s era TV musical shows centred around an artiste e.g. ‘James Last Starparade’ or ‘The Andy Williams Show’. This is also the heady time for funk influences in pop music – signaled by Barry White’s ‘Love’s Theme’ and the ‘Theme from SHAFT’. We hear this in Pourcel’ s hip arrangements for ‘I Love Paris’ and ‘Begin the Beguine’. Pourcel gives a nod to the folk heritage of American pop by going country music style with the banjo on ‘Don’t Fence in’. Finally, we are brought back to Broadway on ‘Just One of those Things’ with its sweeping strings punctuated by massed trumpets.
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SALUTE TO EDMUNDO ROS & HIS LATIN SOUND

SALUTE TO EDMUNDO ROS & HIS LATIN SOUND
Edmundo Ros & his orchestra. Strings Latino/Latin Hits I Missed. VOCALION catalogue no. CDLK 4114.Made in Austria, released in Britain by Dutton Vocalion in 2002. 

A gem from the string of Dutton Vocalion releases of classic easy listening and Latin instrumental albums from the vaults of DECCA Records’ pioneering Phase 4 series of music albums. This CD contains a remaster of two LPs from 1967-8 on one CD. Edmundo Ros and his Latin ensemble is in fine form here and on ‘Strings Latino’, he is augmented by a string section, making it a full orchestra. The concept of ‘Strings Latino’ is unique – it is nowhere lush like the Clebanoff Strings and James Last playing Latin – but Ros keeps his trumpets and saxophones up front with the percussion, while allowing the strings to swerve in and out of the key notes. This is music for a samba party, or pure nostalgia about the classic Latin easy sound associated with the prolific Ros. Listen to ‘Green Eyes’, ‘Felicidade’, ‘Delicado’ and his samba interpretation of Francis Lai’s ‘A Man and a Woman’ and you’ll be amazed. The swinging arrangement of ‘Mas Que Nada’ is one of the best ever. The selections from the original LP ‘Latin Hits I Missed’ are arranged more in keeping with Ros’ Big Band approach to Latin with bold brassy notes, and sparkling percussion interspersed with fiery piano keys...n one CD. Edmundo Ros and his Latin ensemble is in fine form here and on ‘Strings Latino’, he is augmented by a string section, making it a full orchestra. The concept of ‘Strings Latino’ is unique – it is nowhere lush like the Clebanoff Strings and James Last playing Latin – but Ros keeps his trumpets and saxophones up front with the percussion, while allowing the strings to swerve in and out of the key notes. This is music for a samba party, or pure nostalgia about the classic Latin easy sound associated with the prolific Ros. Listen to ‘Green Eyes’, ‘Felicidade’, ‘Delicado’ and his samba interpretation of Francis Lai’s ‘A Man and a Woman’ and you’ll be amazed. The swinging arrangement of ‘Mas Que Nada’ is one of the best ever. The selections from the original LP ‘Latin Hits I Missed’ are arranged more in keeping with Ros’ Big Band approach to Latin with bold brassy notes, and sparkling percussion interspersed with fiery piano keys.
Sadly, Maestro Edmundo Ros had passed away on 22 October 2011. Here is the eulogy on BBC news: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-15414606 LONG LIVE his unforgettable music!
Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Thursday 10 May 2012

PAUL MAURIAT & his GRAND ORCHESTRA

Paul Mauriat's arrangements are always groovy, and occasionally sentimental in sampling the musical fashions of the songs composed in their era. Here are my Paul Mauriat Reviews...


Paul Mauriat & His Orchestra
‘Rhythm And Blues & The Paul Mauriat Orchestra’ Released In England in 2011 By Dutton Vocalion
CDLK 4433.
For Track Listing, Go To Http://www.duttonvocalion.com/
This pairing of Mauriat’s 1969 and 1975 LPs on a single CD showcases the maestro’s extraordinary capabilities of keeping up to date with pop music fashions. To capture the mood of the sound of rhythm and blues from the Sixties, Mauriat deployed his horn section upfront in a bold way and arranged his strings to mimic the drawn-out, emotive soul-dripping vocal passages of  an Otis Redding, Percy Sledge, James Brown or the lead singers from groups like the Chi-Lites and the Supremes. There’s something extra-special about the bold strokes of Mauriat’s brass players that render this selection exceptional in capturing the musical beat innovations of the 1960s. Intriguingly there is a ‘tip of the hat’ to the Beatles in the introduction to Diana Ross & the Supremes’ hit ‘You Keep me Hanging On’. This was the Beatles’ ‘guru-centred’ phase and the opening sitar notes evoke that. The rest of the fast tempo tracks such as ‘Unchain my Heart’, Aretha Franklin’s ‘RESPECT’ and ‘My Girl’ evoke plenty of a-go-go rhythms so ts in our lives. ypical of that decade. Now 1975 saw a slew of very mellow ballads on the hit parade which Mauriat has carefully arranged to sound in tune with his newer audiences while keeping to his knack for blending strings and brass into a ‘pop-jazz’ sound. Listen to ‘Mandy’, ‘Feel Like Makin’ Love’ and ‘The Way We Were’ and you’ll realize how much first-rate ballad writing came out of the Seventies. Then there are amazing continuities with ‘Rhythm & Blues’ through the enigmatic and addictive ‘Angie Baby’ with his trumpet-laden midsections evoking ‘Papa was a Rolling Stone’ and ‘SHAFT’, and ‘Rock your Baby’ giving his listeners a chance to get up and dance. Those of you still enamoured with the 70s iconic love comedy THE LOVE BOAT will adore his interpretation of the Carpenters’ hit ‘I Won’t Last a Day without You’. Then there’s Mauriat’s own mid-70s instrumental smash ‘El Bimbo’ which actually takes after an Arabic tune (if I’m not mistaken) with disco-like panache, and some very pleasant surprises on ‘Until the End of My Song’ and ‘Pacific Holiday’ (with Marcel Bianchi’s guitar solos) evoking memories of dancing Hawaiian girls on a picture postcard holiday. BEAUTIFUL.



FULL TITLE: The Best of Paul Mauriat Volume II. Made in West Germany but released by Phillips Polygram Hong Kong with reg. no. PHILIPS 818 968-2. This is a ‘historic’ compilation since it was part of a two-volume set issued by Philips Polygram (Hong Kong) during the early years of the CD format. This volume, covers mostly the late 1970s and early 1980s including some rare selections from the late 1970s LP ‘Paul Mauriat Disco Sensation’ – ‘Love is Still Blue’; ‘The Logical Song’; and the remade ‘I Will Follow Him’ – and his Asia-only release of the haunting theme from the Bruce Lee action movie of the same name ‘Descendant of the Dragon’. The latter serves as a perfect opening to this collection whether you are an Asian fan or not because its arrangement is typically Mauriat with an interweaving of pop-rock guitar, elegant strings, harpsichord keys and exciting drum breaks. The rest of the 1976-81 pop parade are a nice dollop of nostalgia with the likes of Air Supply, ABBA, Elton John, Eric Carmen, Streisand, Bee Gees and Chicago.

TRACK LISTING:
  1. Descendant Of The Dragon  '82
  2. Taste Of Sorrow  '83
  3. Love Is Still Blue (Mauriat’s own Disco version of his 1968 signature ‘Love is Blue’) '77
  4. Don't Go Breaking My Heart  '76
  5. Woman In Love  '81
  6. Even The Nights Are Better  '82
  7. Woman In You  '83
  8. All By Myself  '76
  9. The Logical Song  '79
  10. Money, Money, Money  '77
  11. Guilty  '81
  12. The Bird And The Child (L'oiseau Et L'enfant)   '77
  13. I Will Follow Him 'Chariot'  '76
  14. Honesty  '79
  15. If You Leave Me Now  '77

To all Fans of Easy Listening & Instrumental Mood Music...


Welcome! This is a site dedicated to the soundtracks that accompanying the beautiful things in our lives. Like listening to a grand orchestra by the palm fringed seaside…or daydreaming on the balcony while taking in the sunset over the hills…It is for those who appreciate the genres of music known as EASY LISTENING, BEAUTIFUL MUSIC, MOOD MUSIC OF THE 1960s AND 1970s and LIGHT JAZZ. Sit back, relax, read, reminisce and hopefully you could supply your own Hi-Fi music to accompany these pages.
I hope also to share reviews of the ever-mounting numbers of LP releases on CD coming out from the Dutton Vocalion company based in Britain. Moreover, I strongly encourage visitors to this site to email me or directly post their review of other CDs from Vocalion’s range of ‘Easy, Light and Latin’ so that all easy listening fans worldwide can benefit from a growing database of reviews concerning a common hobby. The usual disclaimer applies: I am NOT affiliated with Dutton Vocalion in any financial or corporate manner. I am just reviewing their relentless offerings of easy listening LP records, remastered for CD, that I have missed while growing up back in the Seventies and Eighties. I hope you will return again, and again, to enjoy this site and please, do share information if you have, about this much misunderstood aural art form.
I will start reviews of CDs which I have either once owned or have heard on easy listening radio in the Seventies and Eighties and categorize the information threads appropriately, either by orchestral arrangers – Paul Mauriat, Caravelli, Bert Kaempfert, Franck Pourcel etc. – or by sub-themes such as music labels (e.g. DECCA/London Records, Castle Communications etc.). I will also devote a section titled ‘Jazz Lite’ for those who have taken a liking to ‘jazz crossovers’ since the late 1990s.
As an extra, I will also start a thread of sharing about Hi Fi equipment that some of us might care to share without too much techno-speak. This is all in the spirit of appreciating the art of instrumental easy. There’s nothing quite like enjoying easy listening on the best channels of high fidelity technology!
To start you off, here are some reflections from Joseph Lanza’s informative book ELEVATOR MUSIC: A SURREAL HISTORY OF MUZAK, EASY LISTENING AND OTHER MOODSONG (London: Quartet Books, 1994), p.5:
Muzak and mood music are, in many respects, aesthetically superior to all other musical forms: they emit music the way the twentieth century is equipped to receive it. They have so successfully blended genres and redefined music appreciation that they have become the music world’s Esperanto.

Enjoy!
ALAN
[This website started in May 2012]
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Other Disclaimers and Gentle Guides to Using this Site:

This is a site for uplifting moods J. Therefore, kindly avoid any vile language. Reviews and comments can disagree with one another, without being disagreeable in tone J. I will also try my best to upload posts and respond to correspondence twice a week – Wednesdays and Sundays – since I still hold a day job, as so many of us probably do. If there are any copyright issues which I am unaware of, kindly write in to me and I will remove the album picture or quotation in question.