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35 of 37 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Explosively Fun Stuff, January 29, 2003
This review is from: Reckless Nights & Turkish Twilights (Audio CD)
Raymond Scott is not a composer of cartoon music. He is however a compser whose music was later used for many cartoons. His musis is so tied to those cartoons that listening to his extrodinary and complex pieces is like revisiting the old Warner Bros. cartoons. Much of the music on this CD is recognizeable including the Warner Bros. archetypal piece Powerhouse. It was once I understood that this music was not written to accompany Bugs Bunny that I understood Scott's genius: this was just the music he liked to compose. It was not a soundtrack to accompany an animated rabbit and duck and his composition names were not references to cartoons. Scott is not a jazz musician in any traditional way. His music was very rigid. He would tap out pieces on piano and tell others to play it on their own instrument. There was no room for improv. He never wrote down a note of music but rather composed pieces on the spot and assigned people in his quintet to play them. Rigid and formal in compositional style, he was very serious about his fun music. Said to be a loner and a workaholic, he seemed an unlikely candidate to be the musical spokesperson for a generation of cartoons. In spite of the restraints he placed upon his band, his music swings like few others. It feels fun and alive as if playing the music is the greatest joy. Despite knowing about his utter lack of involvement in the making of Warner Bros. cartoons, it is still far easier to imagine a pack of animated animals playing his music than actual people who slaved away for weeks to learn each piece. Later in life he left this fun jazz behind and became a pioneer of electronic music and even did soundtracks for the short films of a pre-Sesame Street Jim Henson. He is one of the most important, influential, and played composers of the 20th century. There are few people in America who have not heard his work although most have no idea who he is.
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20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Finally! The REMASTERED version in the US!, September 25, 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: Reckless Nights & Turkish Twilights (Audio CD)
This 22-track CD includes the original 78 rpm tracks performed by the original 1930s Raymond Scott Quintette -- especially those used in CARTOONS (WB Looney Tunes, Ren & Stimpy, The Simpsons, Animaniacs, etc.) This 24-bit remastered CD allows for a fuller presence in the transfer from metal master to digital format. Meaning: it sounds a lot better, brighter, more alive. There's more bass, & richer textures. The overall sound is far superior to the first CD issue. For the 'new & improved' version, all tracks were remastered at Sony Studios (the latest technology was used to extract better sound from the original 1930s metal master discs); two tracks have been replaced by different, newly discovered -- and better -- performances; the liner notes have been corrected, updated, and expanded; and the inside booklet has been redesigned. ''RECKLESS NIGHTS AND TURKISH TWILIGHTS is a collection of the music Raymond Scott wrote and recorded between 1936 and 1939. It is totally inspiring; high energy music with tempos that rival any speed garage techno-schmecno dance music.'' -AVANT Magazine
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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
What a find!, March 27, 2000
This review is from: Reckless Nights & Turkish Twilights (Audio CD)
I was listening to the Soul Coughing CD "Irrisistible Bliss" and noticed that my favorite track on that CD was built on top of a sample from Raymond Scott's music. So I ordered this CD. Wow! As a big fan of the old Warner Bros. cartoons as well as Ren & Stimpy, finding this was like walking right into a treasure room. As the excellent liner notes explain, many of the Looney toones were based on Raymond Scott's unusual style of jazz. I'm not a big jazz fan, but this is "goofy jazz" and very accessible. If you enjoyed the music in Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny cartoons, you will love listening to the source of all that music. The sound quality is excellent considering that all of this was recorded over 50 years ago ...
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