Back in the 1950s, as the Big Band Era was slowly dying, the money for musicians was to be made in the studios, with alumni from Herman, Rogers and Kenton playing for TV shows and movies in order to pay off their mortgages in the San Fernando Valley. Here are a couple swinging albums from Hollywood in the swinging Eisenhower Years.
Canadian conductor Dennis Farron leads a 1957 studio orchestra that includes Pete Condoli/tp, Ted Nash/ts, Bob Enevoldsen/vtb, Howard Roberts/g, Jimmy Rowles-Lou Levy/p and Alvin Stoller/dr for a mix of originals and standards. They sound like a background sound track for a film noir on the swaggering “Caution! Men Swinging” while the muted horns sway on “Lover Come Back To Me”. West Coast Cool moods dominate “Why Don’t You Do Right” while big brass is bold on “Just You, Just Me” with the team sounding like Kenton on the hard hitting “Three Little Words”. Bright primary colors
Bandleader Skip Martin uses the crème of the Hollywood crop on this 1958 album with sidemen including George Van Eps/g, Babe Russin/ts, Jimmy Rowles/p, Milt Bernhart/tb, and Peter Condoli/p. You almost think that Martin wonders to himself, “Who should I sound like on this next song?” as he does a nice imitation of Billy Mays on “Drivin’ Home”, Basie on the hi “You Turned The Tables On Me” and Nelson Riddle on the classy “Do-Do-Do”. Kenton ideas are never far away as on “Until The Real Thing Comes Along” and there’s even a dash of Gil Evans on “East of the Sun”. Not necessarily distinct, but distinctly impressive.