Contributed by bluebird, who writes:-
Reg Owen is perhaps better known as a composer/arranger although he worked as a saxophonist with the Ted Heath Orchestra between 1945 and 1950 and was later a staff arranger with that band.
He also wrote and arranged for many of the band leaders during the 1950s and later and his recording of 'Manhattan Spiritual' (not on this record) enjoyed some commercial success when released as a single.
His excursions into jazz were few, so this big band containing some well known jazz names and swung along by Phil Seamen is a real treat. The recording date is not given but it is thought to be from the 1957/1958 period.
He died in Spain in 1978 aged 62.
Stan Roderick - trumpet
Jimmy Watson - trumpet
Tommy McQuater - trumpet
Moe Miller - trumpet
Laddie Busby - trombone
Jackie Armstrong - trombone
George Chisholm - trombone
Ken Goldie - trombone
Bob Burns - alto
Bill Povey - alto
Keith Bird - tenor
Frank Reidy - tenor
Al Baum - baritone
Max Harris - piano
Bert Weedon - guitar
Joe Muddel - bass
Phil Seamen - drums
Bobby Midgley - percussion
01 Swing Me High (2:25)
02 Soho Blues (3:12)
03 Slow Train Blues (2:33)
04 Pushin' (2:19)
05 Sweepin' The Floor (2:06)
06 Scotch On The Rocks (2:16)
07 Sinbad (2:20)
08 Babylone Blues (2:50)
09 Madwalk (2:30)
10 Sunset Strip (2:34)
11 Easy Now (2:43)
12 Harlem Swing (2:40)
Label: Bally BAL-12006
Recorded: 1957/1958
Lineage: LP>FLAC
That man Phil Seamen again!. Another interesting one. Thanks again bluebird.
ReplyDeleteNice Blog -
ReplyDeleteTrack 2 will not extract...wrong password
Very strange as everything else in the folder extracts
Thanks for the Owen lp ... Baron
ReplyDeleteThank You.
ReplyDeleteI am learning a lot about the "old" British Jazz.
Many thanks on nice album !!!
ReplyDeletethank you bluebird
ReplyDeletesunbop
To the anonymous commenter who said:-
ReplyDelete"such a good album. I tried putting a track thru Cool Edit and came up with the following. I think it gives the music a lift. What do you think? hope you don't mind Bluebird!"
Bluebird has said he does not mind at all. However, our current policy is to offer only lossless here whenever possible.
We compared the two side-by-side and found the lossless preferable to be honest - the mp3 heard as thinner - but this could easily be prejudice pure and simple.
Any editing our regular contributors do is in the main limited to minimising pops, crackles and other surface faults. Mostly we are opposed to the idea of other processing and feel the music is better presented as near to it's original recording as we can.
The important thing is to enjoy the music however you find is best for you. Thanks for the comment and the thought.
Reproduced here from http://www.bsnpubs.com/chicago/bally/bally.html, some interesting background brought to my attention.
ReplyDelete"Bally Album Discography
By Stormy Hunter, Mike Callahan, Randy Watts, Dave Edwards, Patrice Eyries and Tim Neely
Bally Records was an independent record label formed in Chicago in December, 1955. It was active during 1956 and 1957. It was a subsidiary of Bally Manufacturing Company and was headquartered at 203 N. Wabash Avenue in Chicago. The parent company, Bally Manufacturing Company, made pinball and slot machines, and is still in business today as Bally Technologies.
Bally Records' president, Jimmy Hilliard, was formerly an executive with the RCA subsidiary "X" Records, and took over operations at Bally on January 1,1956. The label began issuing records in March of 1956, using RCA pressing plants. Singles leaned toward pop music while the albums had a definite jazz bent. Their first five albums were a collection of European jazz, as indicated by the advertisement at right. In fact, nearly half of their albums were recorded outside the United States. Although Bally had quite a few singles make the charts (doing especially well in hometown Chicago), these hits rarely showed up on their albums (in fact, the only chart hit to make it to a long player was Lew Douglas' "Levi Lullaby.")"
@anonymous - your comment about track 2 not extracting. Can you tell us which download you took, from where? You are the only one with a problem apparently. Perhaps corrupted during the download process so might be okay if you try a different source. We can upload again if the problem persists. Let us know.
ReplyDeleteLikely year of recording 1956 - Parlophone 10" same title.
ReplyDeleteBaron
Good post - good music.
Thanks for the info, Baron
ReplyDeleteGreat blog, thank you
ReplyDeletehttps://cjoint.net/?8waouzexka
ReplyDelete