Phonograph Monthly Review, Vol. 3, No. 10 (1929-07)

356 The Phonograph Monthly Review July, 1929 Brunswick 15202 (DIO, 75c) Cornin’ Thro’ the Rye, and Thayer: My Laddie, sung by Florence Easton, with orches- tral accompaniments Miss Easton is in somewhat hard voice and her singing lacks the animation that distinguished her recent releases. The recordings is excellent and Miss Easton’s enunciation very clear. Why should Thayer’s song be attributed to one Armour on the label? Brunswick 15021 (DIO, 75c) Wolf-Ferrari: Jewels of the Madonna—Serenade, and Thomas: Hamlet—Brindisi, sung by Giacomo Rimini, with orchestral accompaniments. Rimini gives a good robust performance of the Serenade, but both the music and the manner of the Hamlet excerpt strike one as very old-fashioned. However, it serves as a good example of a type of singing rapidly passing from style. Brunswick 4355 (DIO, 75c) Romberg: Lover, Come Back to Me!, and Frimil: The Vagabond King Waltz, sung by Jessica Dragonette, with orchestral accompaniments. An outstanding release in the popular vocal list that deserves a place of honor here. Miss Dragonette has a r eleasing voice and uses it with intelligence. She gives these |va outstanding recent operetta arias fine-fibred and ef- Jeetiv'e performances. A disk that deserves popularity, and 'also an example that might well be suited by the other sentimental songsters who essay these and similar light songs. Columbia 1826-D (DIO, 75c) Estrellita (arr. La. Forge), and Fernandez: Cielito Lindo, sung by Ruth Stieff, with piano accompaniments by Frank Bibb. Miss Stieff is a new soprano for the phonographic ranks and, I imagine, to the concert hall as well, for she is rather lacking in composure and shows a tendency to finish off her phrases hurriedly. But she is a newcomer of real promise, the possessor of lovely voice and a pleasing manner. With greater assurance and animation she can be looked to for some noteworthy recordings. The present coupling of two familiar Mexican songs makes an auspicious beginning. Choral Columbia 50152-D (D12, $1.25) Evening Bells (arr. Jaroff), and Abt: Serenade, sung by the Don Cossacks Choir, under the direction of Serge Jaroff. One of the decidedly less successful releases of the Don Cossacks Choir. The arrangements are unimpressive and the soloist very unsure of himself and of his intonation. Victor 21925 (D 10,75c) Chicken and Peter on the Sea, sung by the Utica Institute Jubilee Singers. The Utica Singers are quite up to their usual standard here and the recording is excellent. Chicken is only a fair song, but Peter on the Sea is a fine one, well arranged and sung wifh great gusto. Light Orchestral Brunswick 4299 (DIO, 75c) Dance of the Paper Dolls, and The Toymaker’s Dream, played by Louis Katzman and the Anglo-Persians. A nice light release. The pieces are bright and ingeniously scored, and the performances are high-spirited. Victor 21970 (DIO, 75c) Bowers; Chinese Lullaby, and Fletcher: Pearl O’Mine, played by Nathaniel Shilkret and the Victor Salon Orchestra. A contrasting style of salon playing. Here sentiment rather than spirit is the distinguishing quality. The pieces are smoothly turned, however, and the sentiment is not laid on too thickly. Odeon 3529 (DIO, 75c) Stauss: Southern Roses and Wine, Women and Song waltzes, played by Edith Lorand’s Or- chestra. Fair, brief versions of two popular waltzes, done in Edith Lorand’s customary capable fashion. Odeon 3531 (DIO, 75c) Tango Printemps and Roses and Women Tango, played by Dajos Bela’s Orchestra. Another excellent tango disk in the Dajos Bela series. This compares favorably with the Carmencita Tango as the orchestra’s best performances in this form. Odeon 3258 (D12, $1.25) Carmen Fantasie, played by Dajos Bela’s Orchestra. A typical record in Dajos Bela’s concert series. The performance is bright and spirited, and the recording bril- liant. Columbia 1821-D (DIO, 75c) Victory March and Down the Line March, played by the University of Notre Dame Orchestra. Ordinary college performances by a student band aug- mented by a few strings. There are vocal choruses. The record is not of great general interest. Victor (German list) V-6020 (DIO, 75c) Glow-Worm’s Trysting Place and Flattering Kitty, played by Ferdy Kauf- mann’s Orchestra. Neat salon performances. The pieces are very slight, but the playing and recording neat and pleasing. Popular Vocal and Instrumental With the approach of summer the popular lists seem to contain fewer outstanding releases, but the general average seems to keep up to midseason standards. Columbia has a strong issue this month, topped by Ethel Waters, of blues fame, singing Am I Blue? and Birmingham Bertha, the hits from her approaching talking film, “On With the Show,” As always her voice and manner are pleasing and stimulat- ing. Chester H. Hazlett of Paul Whiteman’s Orchestra has a coupling of saxophone solos on 1844-D. On one side he plays a smooth Valse Inspiration of his own, and on the other Ferdy Grofe’s semi-jazz arrangement of MacDowell’s To a Wild Rose, begun on the saxophone and finished up on the sub-tone clarinet of windy, movie-organ reminiscence. Bing Crosby, also associated with the Whiteman organiza- tion, sings sentimental versions of I Kiss Your Hand Madame and Baby—Oh Where Can You Be? (1851-D), lightly spiced with occasional wa-wa work and whistling. James Melton has a good voice for the Pagan Love Song and With a Song in My Heart (1853-D), but his singing is too intense and he displays an annoying tendency toward meaningless crescendos. Eddie Walters delivers She Has a Little Dimple and Then We Canoe-dle-oodlo Along (1847-D) in smart, gusty “vodvil” style; the Mystery Girl makes a rather futile bid for Helen Kane’s baby-talk crown in I’d Do Anything for You and I’ve Got a Feeling I’m Falling (1839-D) ; Ford and Glenn do their regular stuff in When My Dreams Come True and She’s a New Kind of Old-Fashioned Girl (1841-D; Maurice Gunsky waxes sen- timental in One Sweet Kiss and I’ll Always be in Love With You (1852-D); Ruth Etting has two good hits in The One in the World and I’m Walkin’ Around in a Dream (1830-D) ; and the Sunshine Boys croon Do Something and A Tune About June (1834-D. The best of the Columbia race records are 14427-D, Bessie Smith’s unrestrained pleas, I’m Wild About That Thing and You’ve Got to Give Me Some, and 14429-D, Lewis Blacks singular guitar solos, Rock Island Blues and Spanish Blues, with incidental sad moaning. The Williams Jubilee Singers chorus mildly Angels Roll the Stone Away and Oh! Didn’t It Rain (14431-D), George Bias warbles Tell the South and Sweetheart If You Were Mine (14430-D), and Willie Jackson sings a moving ballad of the penitentiary—