Classics French
2001
The Chronogical 1947-1949
About This Album
The main reasons to investigate the recordings of Charlie Ventura are of course his wonderful handling of the tenor saxophone and the excellent ensembles he led. Ventura's recordings were predominately instrumental in 1945 and 1946. As the decade drew to a close, singers dominated the recording industry and many bandleaders chose to feature more and more of them. The third volume of the complete recordings of Charlie Ventura illustrates this process in high relief. Four sides recorded for the National label in September of 1947 spotlight the vocal talents of Buddy Stewart, an able crooner who sounded best when bop scatting like a third horn alongside Ventura and trombonist Kai Winding on "East of Suez" and the dynamic "Eleven Sixty," a masterpiece of high-energy bop that Ventura had recorded in March of 1947 as "Stop and Go." A stack of sides recorded in Chicago during October of 1948 packs a few surprises. Ventura switches to baritone sax on "If I Had You" and begins to feature vocalist Jackie Cain as a lone balladeer and in bop scat tandem with pianist Roy Kral. Their cutely hip, wordless passages closely emulate a widely imitated style of singing perfected by Babs Gonzales.
Track List (try tracks 2,3,4,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19 and 20)

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