Live at the Hollywood Palladium [ORIGINAL RECORDINGS REMASTERED] 2CD SET [Original recording remastered, Import]

Les Brown | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 17, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Original recording remastered, Import
• Label: Jasmine Music
• ASIN: B0002FHA5Q
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #65,908 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Opening Announcement By Les Brown (Leap Frog)

2. Montoona Clipper

3. Caravan

4. Strange

5. Baby

6. Speaklow

7. Rain

8. Street Of Dreams

9. Brown's Little Jug

10. I Let A Song Go Out Of My Heart

See all 13 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Midnight Sun

2. Begin The Beguine

3. Happy Hooligan

4. I Would Do Anything For You

5. Laura

6. Jersey Bounce

7. From This Moment On

8. Crazy Legs (Family Joke)

9. Flying Home

10. One O'clock Jump

See all 13 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

The band business has undergone many vital changes in the past. Of the few orchestras that have lived through all the vicissitudes of those years, some have made radical adjustments in style to cope with the new demands of a younger generation; others, through failing to recognise these demands, have waned in popular appeal. Still others have suffered inevitable and damaging changes in personnel. Through the entire era, Les Brown alone has continued to move along smoothly in a straight line. His changes in style and personnel never have been minor; his popularity has persisted unflaggingly. Yet he has never had the allegiance of the type of fan cult that has elevated the Goodmans, the Kentons and Hermans, to prize-winning pinnacles. This CD, presenting "Les Brown at the Hollywood Palladium", should do much to rectify the situation. These Les Brown recording shows the band at the top of it's form and should be an eye-opener for anyone who thinks the band was just an appendage to Doris Day. See also: JASCD438 - The Sound Exchange

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Les's Best, October 19, 2004

By 

J. E. Billmann (West Bend, Wisconsin) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Live at the Hollywood Palladium [ORIGINAL RECORDINGS REMASTERED] 2CD SET (Audio CD)

This CD is an exact duplicate of the Japanese import entitled "Concert at the Palladium". This one is much cheaper. Although it was taped in 1953, the sound quality isn't all bad but I'm not sure if it has been digitally re-mastered. Regardless, this more big band jazz orientated cd gives the listener a chance to hear what is probably Les's best band ever. Some of the featured soloists include Don Fagerquist, Ronnie Lang, Dave Pell, Rolly Bundock, Ray Sims and others. This band really cooks, and, because it was recorded live, the spontaneity is obvious. This is a "must own" for any true Les Brown fan even though there aren't many of his old standards on this cd. There is lots of excitement here. It's too bad that the engineers injected the "fake" applause and cheering after and during solos and at the conclusion of numbers.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Leave It To Japan..., August 30, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Concert at the Palladium (Audio CD)

This is one of the best hard-swinging big-band concerts from the past 50 years; this band just roars thru two night of live recording. The quality is clean, and except for the fact that it's mono, it could have been recorded yesterday. And I'm sure the liner notes are great, if only I could read Japaneese.

Really sad, though, that USA record companies couldn't care less about supporting the treasure of great American music. I paid $$$ for these two CD's...doesn't that send a message that there's an audience willing to spend $$$ to get this stuff???

Sad commentary - great music. Buy It. You'll love it!
LeeB

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Recording, August 28, 2005

By 

Ferd Burfle - See all my reviews

This review is from: Live at the Hollywood Palladium [ORIGINAL RECORDINGS REMASTERED] 2CD SET (Audio CD)

This is one of the best big band recordings ever made. Recorded in September 1953 before large enthusiastic crowds, this 2 disc set displays the Les Brown orchestra at its finest. In fact, Les later said no band of his ever sounded better. That is quite a statement considering his decades-long career.

The sound quality of these cuts is outstanding. I bought the LP on the Coral label in 1956 and, even then, was amazed at the clarity of the monaural sound. Whoever the sound engineers were, they really knew what they were doing. This is worth mentioning because during this period of the fifties live concert recordings were an uncertain thing at best. Jazz aficionados may recall the poor quality of the 1955 Errol Garner "Concert By The Sea" recording and the fiasco that surrounded the taping of Duke Ellington's historic July 1956 Newport Jazz Festival appearance, whereby large portions of it had to be re-done later in a New York studio. But that's another story.

When this Les Brown engagement was taking place, nobody knew it but the big band era was rapidly drawing to a close. Within two years or less, Bill Haley and the Comets, Elvis, Little Richard, Ray Charles and many others would usher in the rock n roll era and the music business would never be the same again.

So, from the twilight of an era, we have this magnificent recording to remind us what a big band full of great soloists could sound like. Dave Pell on tenor sax, Don Fagerquist on trumpet, Ronnie Lang on alto sax and Ray Sims on trombone are just a few of the great players featured on these wonderful arrangements. But for me, overshadowing them all is the superb drumming of Jack Sperling. After you've enjoyed these cuts several times - and you will - devote some time to paying attention to Sperling's work. Understated and restrained, his drumming is clearly the driving force behind this band, as a good drummer must be. Brown and his musicians were obviously enjoying themselves during these sets, and you will too.