Search - Neal Hefti :: Sure Thing: Art of Arrangement

A Hefti package

Robin Benson | 10/01/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I always enjoy this CD because it has fourteen tracks recorded for Coral in 1951 and 52 and in particular the eight tracks issued on their first LP `Swinging' on a Coral Reef'. This was a ten incher that I bought sometime in the late fifties and I've been playing it for years and to get the tracks on a CD was marvelous.



I think Coral Reef was Hefti's greatest hit and it seems to sum up the best of big band jazz. It's no surprise that the tune was used by plenty of DJs as their show theme. The most famous (though not heard in the US) was Willis Conover who played it nightly for years as the opener to the two-hour Voice of America jazz program heard around the world on short-wave.



Coral probably picked the best of the fourteen tracks for their LP. Apart from Coral Reef the others are Lake Placid, Sure Thing, Two for a nickel three for a dime, Uncle Jim, Falling in love all over again, Why not? and It's a happy holiday. To quote from the LP sleeve notes: `Listen to the various unique sounds which are now the orchestra's trademark -- the baritone sax against the trombones accompanying muted trumpets (four using Harmon mutes and Neal using a cup mute) the unusual voicing of the four saxophones, plus ensemble playing that has the same looseness and freedom of the better individual soloists.'



The other tracks on the CD include four with Hefti playing trumpet with Lem Davis Sextet and with Georgie Auld's Orchestra in 1947 and three with him leading groups in 1953 that included Coleman Hawkins.



The disc can also be used as a CD--ROM with a biography, discography, photo gallery and more. A super Hefti package to be sure.









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