Customer Reviews

At Hollywood Palladium / Trumpet After Midnight

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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Truth be told, James was a part-time musician for much of the fifties, preferring the life of a racehorse owner than one on the bandstand. These two recordings are reflective of the period when he was the beneficiary of a very lucrative recording contract with Columbia, dating from the forties. Essentially two different LP releases on one CD, the first, Trumpet After Midnight, was recorded between 1950 and 1953 and released in 1954. Composed chiefly of medium slow dance charts, Moanin' Low and Lush Life stand out impressively, both for the performances of James and the Music Makers and also for their arrangements.
The other release, At The Hollywood Palladium, recorded in January 1954 `live', is the complete opposite - this was a very swinging and successful big band, especially with the addition of Bernard "Buddy" Rich in the drum chair. This recording marks the first commercial release from James with Buddy in the band. While the recording quality is soft, indicative of the technology available at the time, the tracks on this date really reflect the James' book at the time, as well as his stellar technique - there was nothing this guy couldn't play. If you have any James compilations in your collection, it's likely you've heard a couple of these - Moaning Low, popular from the movie Young Man With A Horn (James had done all of the trumpet work on the film), has been regularly re-released, as has Flash, written by Harry James, which features the leader trading fours with Buddy - well worth a listen. While all of the tracks are interesting, including an early vocal recording of Buddy with Harry on drums, the standout from this date is Sugar Foot Stomp, a swing era veteran rolled out in a medium tempo swing, which Buddy Rich promptly makes his own. This drum solo is noted by some as being one of the most interesting and technically challenging solos recorded by the famous drummer - his press rolls are astonishing.

If you are a James collector, this is absolutely worthwhile. A big band collector, on the other hand, might look for James' later recordings under Capitol; nonetheless, I was pleased to find this to add to my collection

In my opinion, he had the best dance and listening band of the era. Except for the phony laugh track, it was super!

Great "Lush Life", "Midnight Sun" and "Moanin'Low" Would highly recommend this Album!

Love this CD. Can't get enought of this type of music. The old songs are always a pleasure to listen to and the trumpet of Harry James is pure joy.