This three disc, 68 song collection puts together a bunch of their popular hits through the years such as “Blue Moon”, “Heaven Can Wait”, “When I Get Too Old To Dream” and a pre-Glen Miller “Sunrise Serenade”. These are fine in their own right for nostalgic purposes, but if you want to hear what a white big band could do before Goodman and Shaw, hold onto your hat!
The intricate charts have the sections caroming of the walls on the mercurial and influential “Casa Loma Stomp” as well as preceding Luncefords’ “White Jazz” by a few years with a burning take of their own. A violin lead of Ellington’s “Sophisticated Lady” is ebullient, while “Limehouse Blues” stomps the roof off. There are quite a few serviceable vocal pieces by Kenny Sargent, who croons well on “Under A Blanket of Blue”. But, to show you the allure of Gray’s band, he was able to attract guest appearances by Louis Armstrong (“Rockin’ Chair”), Mildred Bailey (“Heat Wave”) and Lee Wiley (“A Hundred Years From Now”) for some timeless tracks. By the middle and end of the Swing Era in the mid to late 40s, some of his rougher edges had been polished off, but the embers still burn pretty brightly. Still, it will take you awhile to get to the last songs of the set, as you’ll be playing and replaying the first one until your head spins. A forgotten musical meteor.