Solid!

Bing Crosby

Bing Crosby and Some Jazz Friends

MCA

Though Bing Crosby sang many different styles in just about every genre, it was in jazz where he always seemed to be the most comfortable. Bing was also famous for his many duos. Name a singer or bandleader and chances are Bing worked with them at one time or another. The MCA release Bing Crosby and Some Jazz Friends combines both those aspects into one twenty-track CD that is well worth the listen. Featuring such artists as Louis Armstrong, Jimmy Dorsey, Lionel Hampton, Woody Herman, Connee Boswell, and Bing's own bandleader brother, Bob, this collection sheds light on an often ignored side of Bing. Forget the ballads, bring on the jazz!

Highlighted tracks include the smooth ''Yes, Indeed!,'' which pairs Bing with Connee Boswell, and the great and often neglected Hoagy Carmichael tune ''Moonburn,'' recorded with Georgie Stoll. Another Stoll number, ''Someday, Sweetheart,'' from 1934, the oldest track on the CD, allows you an opportunity to hear Bing in his earlier phase when his voice was more urgent and less velvet. ''Pennies from Heaven'' features a wonderful combo with Louis Armstrong and Jimmy Dorsey. Bing and Mary Martin team up on ''The Waiter and The Porter and the Upstairs Maid,'' during which Jack Teagarden takes apart his trombone and does his classic ''glass-and-a-half'' routine, playing his slide into an empty water glass. ''Blue,'' with Eddie Condon, finds Bing at his most relaxed and comfortable, gliding along effortlessly with the mellow jazz rhythm. ''Personality'' begins with an out-take -- after a muffled beginning, Crosby jokes with pianist Joe Bushkin to ''take off those boxing gloves.'' ''On the Sunny Side of the Street'' finds Lionel Hampton razzing Crosby about his finances. Bing and Woody Herman connect on the dixieland ''Deep in the Heart of Texas,'' and the album closes with the wonderful ''Gone Fishin','' on which Bing matches wits with Louis Armstrong.

A must-have for Bing Crosby fans and a wonderful collection for addicts of classic jazz.

Track Listing

• 1. Your Socks Don't Match
• 2. My Baby Said Yes
• 3. Basin Street Blues
• 4. Yes, Indeed!
• 5. Someday, Sweetheart
• 6. Moonburn
• 7. Pennies from Heaven
• 8. The Waiter and the Porter and the Upstairs Maid
• 9. The Birth of the Blues
• 10. Blue (and Broken Hearted)
• 11. After You've Gone (Unissued)
• 12. After You've Gone
• 13. Personality
• 14. Pinetop's Boogie Woogie
• 15. On the Sunny Side of the Street
• 16. I Still Suits Me
• 17. I Ain't Got Nobody
• 18. Deep in the Heart of Texas
• 19. When My Dreamboat Comes Home
• 20. Gone Fishin'

Read other Bing Crosby reviews:

• Love Songs
• Holiday Inn (w/ Fred Astaire)
• On The Road (w/ Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour)
• Their Complete Recordings Together (w/ The Andrews Sisters)