This CD contains music recorded for the Lang-Worth Transcriptions by the John Kirby Sextet plus singer Maxine Sullivan. Actually Sullivan is only on five of the 18 songs, singing in her typically light and straightforward manner. The other selections feature the unique sextet (trumpeter Charlie Shavers, clarinetist Buster Bailey, altoist Russell Procope, pianist Billy Kyle, bassist John Kirby and drummer O'Neil Spencer) performing a program heavy on adaptations of classical theme...   [ read more ]

CD $15.18

On the first of two Circle CDs taken from Lang-Worth Radio Transcriptions that feature Boyd Raeburn's Orchestra, Raeburn's transitional band is well showcased. Succeeding his undocumented sweet orchestra of the late '30s and preceding his radical 1945 group, this big band essentially played advanced swing with most arrangements contributed by Eddie Finckel or George Williams. There are some dated vocals by Don Darcy and a couple from Marjorie Wood (including "Who Started Love" which ha...   [ read more ]

CD $15.18

Singer Maxine Sullivan gets top billing on this CD reissue, and she has delightful vocals on 11 of the selections, but there are also 15 instrumentals by the "backup group," the John Kirby Sextet, as Sullivan was married to the bassist/leader at the time. In addition to the title cut (a remake of her biggest hit), she is in fine form on a variety of folk-oriented songs, including two versions of "If I Had a Ribbon Bow." However, it is the sextet features that are of greatest interest. The class...   [ read more ]

CD $15.18