Search - Les Brown :: Anything Goes

Smooth Solid Big Band

Robert J. Ament | Ballwin, MO United States | 05/21/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is not a band which is an innovator of jazz with its arrangements, new compositions, or wild solos. That said, this is a very good smooth band playing very good danceable arrangements (J. Hill and Frank Comstock)of standards, with a predominance of Cole Porter (my favorite composer).The sidemen of the Brown band have always been good and the solos, while short, reflect this. I recognize such names as Ronny Lang, Lou Ciotti, and Greg Huckins on the woodwinds, Dick Nash and Andy Martin on trombones, Don Rader on trumpet and Jack Sperling on drums.A lot of the tunes start out or end with a few notes of "Sentimental Journey" which is a nice signature touch. All the selections are under 3 and 1/2 minutes which takes one back to the time limitations of the old 78rpm records ...... but the band and the arrangements are much more modern than that. I guess what I'm trying to say is there was a time when necessity forced a musician to be particularly selective in solo expression due to the constraints of the recording medium and this reminds me of that time.I'm glad that I own this recording because even though it doesn't come to the forefront of my mind when I'm conversing about big band or jazz, when I do play it, I find it gets my attention because of a combination of the standards, the arrangements and the good musicianship..........and possibly the nostalgia of the big band era with its very danceable music."

Les Brown - Anything Goes Review

Stanley H. Kratchman | College Station, Texas United States | 08/15/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Very good big band music. Although the CD does not have a great many cuts, the cuts it does have are very good ones. All the tunes are well known standard tunes. This is important to me since I am the co-host for a weekly big band radio show on a public service station. Les Brown is quite popular with our listening audience. I especially like the sound of the Les Brown Orchestra and the way he uses all of the instrument sections."