Tommy Dorsey & His Clambake Seven & Orch (1935/36)

This time I'm sharing one of my favourite albums from the jazz archive section of my library. The material comprises private recordings of Tommy Dorsey's Clambake Seven group and four of his 1935 band (Side 2 Tks 5-8). The Clambake Seven was Tommy Dorsey’s alter ego to the one personified by his band. In the septet lineup he could relax and play the kind of smooth trombone improvisations that he so much enjoyed. The Clambake Seven was more of a real jazz ensemble.

As Michael Brooks points out in his liner notes: "These recordings were originally made as 16" radio transcriptions. Broadcast transcriptions were produced to give individual stations an exclusive identity, a chance to air current music in a different form than commercial records. Material on radio transcriptions often differed from the commercial sides cut by the same orchestra in both solos and arrangements. Further, the orchestras recorded tunes on radio transcriptions that they did not record for commercial record releases. The Clambake Seven sides generate a lot of excitement and I think that the fans of this group will be pleasantly surprised by the jazz content of these previously unknown recordings."

Besides Dorsey the Clambake personnel are:

Max Kaminsky (trumpet)

Joe Dixon (clarinet)

Sid Block (tenor sax)

Dick Jones (piano)

Carman Mastren (guitar)

Gene Traxler (bass)

Dave Tough (drums)

Edythe Wright (Vocals)

Side 1:

01) Christopher Columbus

02) Us On A Bus

03) My Honey's Lovin' Arms

04) Robins And Roses

05) Somebody Stole My Gal

06) How Come You Do Me

07) You

08) Dreamtime

Side 2:

01) Swing Mr Charlie

02) I'll Stand By

03) Ja-Da

04) The Panic's On

05) On Treasure Island

06) Alone

07) Thanks A Million

08) I'm Sitting High On A Hilltop

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