Similar Albums:
- Artist: Larry Adler
- Rating:
- Release Date: 1995
- Type: Compilation (best of)
- Genre: Jazz
Review
This Living Era tribute to harmonica virtuoso Larry Adler presents some of his greatest performances dating from the mid-'30s. It opens with a glorious six-minute realization of George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" recorded in London in 1935 with pianist Carroll Gibbons and the Savoy Orpheans. Other fascinating harmonica adaptations of classical themes presented here are Ravel's Bolero, Fritz Kreisler's Caprice Viennois, and Manuel de Falla's Ritual Fire Dance. A versatile and consistently surprising performer, Adler was also capable of handling show tunes (heavy on the Fred Astaire repertoire) and popular jazz standards. His technique was stunningly inventive and dependably entertaining. Adler backed Ruth Etting on her lachrymose 1930 rendition of James P. Johnson's "If I Could Be with You (One Hour Tonight)," the only track recorded on U.S. soil. Here Adler cheerfully contributes to the sentimentality of Etting's tearful delivery. Most of these recordings were made in London between 1934 and 1937. Four splendid collaborations with Django Reinhardt, Stéphane Grappelli, and the Quintet of the Hot Club of France were recorded in Paris on May 31, 1938. While most of Larry Adler's recordings are substantial and rewarding, this compilation is uncommonly pleasant and satisfying. Adler was quite a character. Further insights may be gleaned from his autobiography, wryly entitled It Ain't Necessarily So. ~ arwulf arwulf, All Music GuideTracks
| Track Title | Composers | Performers | Time |
| Rhapsody in Blue | George Gershwin | Larry Adler, Carroll Gibbons, |
(6:14) |
| If I Could Be with You (One Hour Tonight) | Henry Creamer, Turner Layton | Larry Adler, Ruth Etting | (2:58) |
| Bolero | Maurice Ravel | Larry Adler | (3:30) |
| Smoke Gets in Your Eyes | Jerome Kern, Otto Harbach | Larry Adler | (3:05) |
| The Continental | Con Conrad, Herbert Magidson | Larry Adler | (2:40) |
| Caprice Viennois | Fritz Kreisler | Larry Adler, Carroll Gibbons, |
(3:21) |
| I Won't Dance/Lovely to Look At [Medley] | Jimmy McHugh, Jerome Kern, Dorothy Fields, Oscar Hammerstein II, Otto Harbach | Larry Adler | (3:18) |
| Cheek to Cheek | Irving Berlin | Larry Adler, |
(3:12) |
| Isn't This a Lovely Day?/Top Hat [Medley] | Irving Berlin | Larry Adler, |
(3:07) |
| Ritual Fire Dance | Manuel de Falla | Larry Adler | (3:20) |
| St. Louis Blues | W.C. Handy | Larry Adler | (2:27) |
| Sophisticated Lady | Irving Mills, Duke Ellington, Mitchell Parish | Larry Adler | (3:06) |
| Solitude | Irving Mills, Eddie DeLange, Duke Ellington | Larry Adler | (3:22) |
| Tiger Rag | Eddie Edwards, Henry Ragas, Tony Sbarbaro, Larry Shields, |
Larry Adler | (2:41) |
| Red Sails in the Sunset/I'll Never Say "Never Again" Again [Medley] | Larry Adler, |
(3:04) | |
| Intro: I'm Putting All My Eggs in One Basket/I'd Rather Lead a Band [Me | Irving Berlin | Larry Adler, |
(3:09) |
| They All Laughed | George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin | Larry Adler | (2:46) |
| Love Me Forever/South American Joe [Medley] | Irving Caesar, Victor Schertzinger | Larry Adler, |
(3:07) |
| Empty Saddles/Is It True What They Say About Dixie? [Medley] | Larry Adler, |
(3:12) | |
| Body and Soul | Johnny Green, Edward Heyman, Robert Sour, Frank Eyton | Larry Adler, Quintet of the Hot Club of France | (3:03) |
| Lover, Come Back to Me | Sigmund Romberg, Oscar Hammerstein II | Larry Adler, Quintet of the Hot Club of France | (2:33) |
| My Melancholy Baby | Larry Adler, Quintet of the Hot Club of France | (3:13) | |
| I Got Rhythm | George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin | Larry Adler, Quintet of the Hot Club of France | (2:51) |
| They Can't Take That Away from Me | George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin | Larry Adler, Carroll Gibbons | (3:16) |
