Search - Dick Robertson :: New York Session Man

Unspectacularly enjoyable

JJA Kiefte | Tegelen, Nederland | 03/11/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"To my astonishment I discovered I have owned this cd for 16 years; time for a reappraisal.

Dick Robertson was a well known session vocalist who sang with all kinds of bands (Ben Selvin, Gene Kardos, Adrian Rollini etc.) and was given the opportunity by Decca to record under his own name with studio bands of his liking. Most of the recordings, waxed between 1937-1939, are immediately recorgnisable as Robertson's because of the use of an introductory rhythm vamp. Obviously a trad man, he picked musicians like Al Washburn or Jack Teagarden on trombone, Bobby Hackett or Johnny McGee on trumpet, Paul Ricci or Don Watt on clarinet, Stan King or Sam Weiss on drums and Frank Froeba or Fran Signorelli on piano. The repertoire consists of pop music of the day from screen and stage all with a light, two beat treatment, the results being radically different from what a Teddy Wilson or a Lionel Hampton were doing at the same time. Nothing very spectacular to be sure, but easy on the ear, well played music interspersed with good solos and Robertson's pleasant singing (the sometimes irreverent hokum of his Kardos days is largely absent) makes this an enjoyable disc."

UNCOMPROMISINGLY HOT TREATMENT BY A HAND-PICKED GROUP

Barry McCanna | Normandy, France | 11/13/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Dick Robertson had impeccable taste when it came to picking a group of session musicians to accompany him on the recordings he made for Decca between 1935 and 1942. These were for the most part popular songs of the day, yet the treatment they received from his hand-picked group was often uncompromisingly hot in the Dixieland style. That group could include Bobby Hackett on cornet, Jack Teagarden on trombone, Frank Froeba or Frank Signorelli on piano, Dave Barbour on guitar, and Stan King on drums. His own vocal delivery owed nothing to others who sang these same songs, nor did he take liberties with them. His was a no-nonsense delivery which was perfectly in keeping with his accompaniment.



This compilation comprises a selection of the best recordings, culled from the period March 1937 to September 1939, and they are probably better appreciated today than they were when first issued. The most unusual track has to be the composition "Chinese Laundry Blues", the 1932 recording of which was instrumental in launching its composer George Formby on the road to stardom. Just one niggle, which is that someone at Timeless should have checked over the liner note before it was printed!

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