Customer Reviews

Ectoplasm

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Here's another in Basta's series of releases of Raymond Scott's music, mostly from the Scott Collection in the Marr Sound Archives. Ectoplasm focuses on Scott's quintet music of 1948-1949. Some of this music was released by Scott himself on a deluxe series of 78 rpm records. The rest is music fashioned for various radio programs.

The highlights here are the eight lesser known Scott compositions that haven't been available since the 1950s, if at all. The music is still recognizable as Scott's, though often a bit darker perhaps, and a little more complex at times. The musicians are little known but play with the same well-rehearsed (or maybe over-rehearsed) precision of the earlier more famous Scott Quintette.

The standards are a mixed bag. Mostly very short to enable them to be squeezed between other features during a 15 minute radio show, they sound like attempts to graft Scott's signature sound onto recognizable tunes. Unfortunately, this tends to undermine any emotional resonance that these songs have and to make them sound even more robotic than Scott's own compositions do at times. They also illustrate how similar in sound and approach Scott's groups and the John Kirby band could be- "Humoresque" sounds almost exactly like one of Kirby's records from the late 1930s. The best of the standards here are "Who" and "Moonlight on the Ganges", which feature Dorothy Collins wordlessly singing along, blending perfectly into the ensemble and sounding like some kind of a walking talking theramin.

Scott's compostions were backed on the original 78s by standards sung by Ms. Collins (with words this time). These have all been omitted from the cd except for "Tiger Rag". Instead there are a few alternate versions of a few of Scott's own pieces, which thankfully are different enough from the released versions to be interesting.

2008 is the 100th anniversary of Scott's birth. It's great that he's still remembered and listened to, and it's great that this music is easily available once again. Keep 'em coming, Basta!!

I really enjoy Raymond Scott's work but don't place it at the top of my play list.

The music is a very tight, fast and furious jazz that often has interesting twists and occasional forays into contemporary classical.

There are, however, a few problems.

First, jazz is supposed to swing. This is often too tight and loses some of the swing and looseness of the best of jazz. Another problem is that most of the music feels like it came from the 20's, maybe the 30's. Not just music from this era, but pop music from this era. Maybe a lot of the music was written then , but it was recorded in the late '40s or early 50's - to me this sounds a bit quaint when up against the bop being played at the time or even what Ellington was doing in the 40's and 50s (or, for that matter, what Ellington was doing in the 20's & 30's). I can listen to Bird or Monk or Dizzy all day, even though Jazz isn't my music, but this can get annoying after a while. And somehow this feels more dated than most - Ellington of the late 20's is still fresh and new, but Scott...?

Scott is best known for his music which Warner Brothers incorporated into their cartoons. Even though this music is different there is still a cartoonist feel. I can see cartoon characters doing little dances to most of these. The music almost seems like a Hollywood parody of Jazz more than Jazz itself.

It is fun. If you haven't listened to it, you owe it to yourself to try. The compositions are intriguing and the musicianship of the highest caliber. But it doesn't make the top of my play-list and barely makes the middle...

Buy this cd. You won't be disappointed. One of our favorites right now.... Raymond
Scott is the bomb!