The late Dick Morrissey was one of the finest exponents of the tenor sax ever to emerge from the ’60s British jazz scene – a player whose prowess placed him on a par with such British sax geniuses as Tubby Hayes, Alan Skidmore, Tony Coe and Pete King. Therefore, Vocalion is more than proud to present on this 2-CD set two of The Dick Morrissey Quartet’s greatest recordings. Hailing from the latter half of the ’60s, both ‘Here and Now and Sounding Good’ (1967) & ‘Storm Warning!’ (1966) were recorded for the Mercury label and find Dick in his mid-twenties, a fully-fledged jazz tenor player in the company of Harry South, the first of several musical partners, mentors and guides who enhanced Dick’s career. Phil Bates (bass) and Bill Eyden (drums) are fine players and Phil Seamen (drums) is indeed the stuff of legend. Pianist-composer Harry South’s presence is keenly felt throughout both albums, contributing four original compositions. The remainder of the material comprises music by Tubby Hayes, Stan Tracey, Ian Hamer and Dick Morrissey himself, which sits nicely alongside a few well-chosen standards.
Remastered from the original stereo analogue tapes.

"I was the journalist who broke the big story at the time, that Dick had split with guitarist Jim Mullen, to disband the wonderful Morrissey Mullen jazz-funk outfit. I remember calling Jim one day for a chat, and he seemed upset. He told me Dick had just that minute put the ‘phone down after breaking the bombshell news he was done with Morrissey Mullen. His reasons were simple... He just wanted to go back to playing jazz to pub and club audiences, to enjoy his playing again, rather than being part of a hip chart band playing in huge venues to thousands. From selling out several nights at Hammersmith Odeon, to the backroom of a smoky pub on a Sunday night, with bass and drums as a jazz trio, playing to a few dozen people, often for little more than beer money after the band and travel/B&B costs were covered. But in his element. Dick loved his jazz and jazz fans loved him. I recall photographing him at the start of the '80s, when he was backing blues legend Jimmy Witherspoon in 'Our Band.' Great memories of a tremendous player and a very nice bloke. Now two of his seminal albums are available on one CD. 'Here And Now And Sounding Good' (1967) and 'Storm Warning' (1966). Perhaps never quite widely recognised as the great player he was, a listen to either of these two albums on one CD, confirms that as a statement of fact, not just a suggestion. Recorded for the Mercury label, Dick in his mid '20s and in good company, with mega drummer Phil Seamen, Bill Eyden also on drums (he of Whiter Shade of Pale fame, for which he got a £15 session fee), Phil Bates on bass. Pianist and composer Harry South, who helped guide Dick’s career enormously over the years. He contributes four originals here. The remainder of the material comes from the pens of Tubby Hayes, Stan Tracey, Ian Hamer and Morrissey himself, alongside some well chosen standards. Come Rain or Come Shine a pleasing offering. Dick lost his battle with cancer in 2000, aged just 60. But he was a fighter to the end, and spent the last few months of his life sat in a wheelchair in his local pub in Kent, playing sax to a packed room with what little breath he had left. His work with early jazz-rock band “If” was some fine, fine playing and arrangements. Worth checking out. Maybe Vocalion can get hold of those recordings and bring them out on CD. I’ll be first to order them if they do. Meantime, get this CD of Dick’s and enjoy one of the great communicators of jazz, who straddled jazz and rock with ease and opened the door for many jazzers of the future to do the same, without fear of accusations of selling out. Bless you, Richard Edwin "Dick" Morrissey. RIP."
Simon Redley, www.bluesandsoul.com

2 CD SET - 2CDSML 8479

The 1970s was when jazz and rock met head-on, thereby creating the jazz-rock genre, the most significant and certainly the most controversial development in jazz since the free-jazz movement of the previous decade. Miles Davis’s seminal ‘Bitches Brew’ album, recorded in 1969, is regarded as jazz-rock’s first major statement, but of equal importance was a different strand of rock-influenced jazz being developed in Britain at the same time. Among its leading exponents were such gifted young musicians as Mike Gibbs, Ian Carr, Mike Westbrook and, from the generation before theirs, bandleader, composer and alto saxophonist John Dankworth (1927-2010). The albums compiled here are two of Dankworth’s most significant forays into the jazz-rock genre, and show that he was responsive to the latest developments in jazz. 1972’s ‘Full Circle’ and 1973’s ‘Lifeline’ both feature an exciting blend of rock’s energy and electric instrumentation with jazz’s intricate harmonies and melodic contours. Dankworth leads a powerhouse band consisting of such fine players as Tony Hymas/Alan Branscombe/John Taylor (keyboards), Daryl Runswick (bass guitar) and Harold Fisher/John Spooner (drums), while in the brass and reeds sections are luminaries including Mike Gibbs, Kenny Wheeler, Stan Sulzmann, Don Rendell and Dankworth himself.
Remastered from the original stereo analogue tapes.

"British jazz composer and saxophonist extraordinaire, the late Johnny Dankworth was a highly versatile musician who recorded some memorable sides for television, film and vinyl alike. This excellent series of re-issues from Vocalion enables us to rediscover some of the mid-1960s and early to mid-1970s period era of his work, and this particular edition focuses on two albums from 1971 and 1972 respectively. The former, 'Full Circle', is slightly stronger with the reflective piece 'Scmaltz waltz' and it's lovely use of vibes and piano (John Taylor no less) a highlight. By contrast there is a strong percussive cu-bop feel to 'Earthman' (the first of the Dankworth original compositions) with big band unison on the main theme and a lovely flute solo. The second of the two originals on the album, 'Academy One', is an unabashed attempt at a contemporary sound that conjurs up the backbeat to Serge Gainsbourg's 'Melody Nelson' from the same period. Finally an uplifting fusion-jazz number is 'A family joy' with Bruce Graham soloing on piano. The second album, 'Lifeline', features one of Dankworth's most memorable and easily recognisable tunes, the theme from 'Tomorrow's world' which for the uninitiated was the long-standing science programme for the BBC. This includes a gorgeous extended solo on flute from Stan Sulzmann. Far more elaborate and intricate is a five movement suite and, of these pieces, the moody brass-led 'Orinoco' impresses as does the disitnctly 1970s soundtrack ambiance of 'Brass roots' with its use of wah-wah guitar and electric bass. Here Don Rendell features on soprano saxophone alongside Cleo Laine's wordless vocals. All in all a fine example of how British jazz had evolved from bop imitation into something quite distinct and refreshing."
4/5, Tim Stenhouse, Manchester Evening News, August 2011

"Dankworth’s foray into jazz rock, popularised at the time by many exponents here and across the pond, since the seed was first sown by the likes of Blood Sweat and Tears, and of course, Miles Davis in '69, with Bitches Brew. Leading exponents here were Colloseum, Mike Gibbs, Ian Carr, Mike Westbrook, and from the preceeding generation; Mr John Dankworth. The albums compiled here are two of his most significant journeys into the jazz-rock style, reflecting just how responsive he was to the latest developments in jazz, unlike some of the old school who turned their nose up at change and stuck to the same old, same old. 'Full Circle' and 'Lifeline' feature an exciting blend of rock’s energy and electric instrumentation, with jazz intricacy, jazz harmonies and melodic contours. Dankworth leads a powerhouse band of fine players, including Tony Hymas, Alan Branscombe, John Taylor on keys. Daryl Runswick on bass. Harold Fisher and John Spooner on drums. In the brass and reed sections, sat such luminaries as Kenny Wheeler, a colossus of a player. He was in great company, with the likes of Mike Gibbs, Stan Sulzman, Don Rendell and Mr Dankworth himself. A fitting tribute to the late and great JD, this re-issue should remind us of just how bloody brilliant the man was, and just how much he contributed to the world of music. Luckily for us, his music lives on - and he left us with a heck of a lot of it too."
Simon Redley, www.bluesandsoul.com

"Dankworth’s carefully-wrought arrangements, with their rich sonorities, stylistic élan and harmonic sophistication are also in evidence on two of his ’70s big band LPs, Full Circle and Lifeline. The latter contains a souped-up version of his theme to the BBC science programme, Tomorrow’s World.
Charles Waring, Record Collector, September 2011 (four stars out of five)

CDEA 6080

CDEA 6095

CDEA 6127

CDEA 6131

This release celebrates the wonderful music written for British films during the 1930s, ’40s and ’50s by composers better-known for their works in the classical realm and for the concert hall. Vaughan Williams’s rousing music from the films ‘The Loves of Joanna Godden’ and ‘49th Parallel’ is heard, as is William Walton’s famous Spitfire Fugue from ‘The First of the Few’. Gordon Jacob is represented with his theme and an underscore from ‘Esther Waters’, while John Ireland’s incidental music from ‘The Overlanders’ is on offer, as is some of William Alwyn’s music from ‘The Rake’s Progress’ and ‘Cure for Love’. In some cases these composers’ music was better than the films it was written for, and much of the material heard here is making its first appearance on CD. Orchestras/conductors heard performing these scores include the London Symphony and Royal Philharmonic orchestras conducted by Muir Mathieson, and the Hallé conducted by William Walton.

CDEA 6146

Say ‘Berlin’ and ‘the 1920s’ and most people think of the kind of decadence portrayed in ‘Cabaret’. There was also good music to be heard at that time. Just as well executed as the classical fare purveyed by Kleiber, Furtwängler and Walter were the dance tunes played by the crack bands and light orchestras. Among their leaders or conductors were Dajos Béla, Bernard Etté, Julian Fuhs, Paul Godwin and Edith Lorand, whose records carried their fame far beyond Berlin . Greatest of all was Marek Weber, of whom it was said in 1940 that he had sold more discs than any artist save Enrico Caruso. By then Weber was living and working in America , but this CD locates him where his reputation was made in the years 1914-33, at the Hotel Adlon, Berlin . Featured here are many delightful Weber recordings including selections from The Geisha, The Flower of Hawaii and Vindobona alongside numbers such as Parade of the Goblin Guard, Vienna City of My Dreams, Viennese Singing Birds and many more.

CDEA 6152

CDEA 6177

"Kismet, a stage and film success of the mid-'50s, became a hot property again when Alfred Drake, who had starred in the Broadway and West End productions, undertook a U.S. tour in 1962. The original Broadway cast album was on Columbia Records, with the original soundtrack album on MGM. Soon, other labels wanted a recording in their catalogs, and Mantovani obliged Decca Records ( London Records in the U.S.) with this version. ( Capitol Records followed with one featuring Gordon MacRae and Dorothy Kirsten later in 1964; in 1965, RCA Victor recorded Drake when he brought his touring revival to Broadway.) Normally, an album such as this, on which individual singers are cast in specific roles, is categorized as a studio-cast recording; but any album on which Mantovani appears is a Mantovani album as far as the record industry is concerned, and accordingly the conductor receives top billing. In fact, the major presence on the disc is Robert Merrill, who plays the starring role of Hajj the street poet and, with his dramatic baritone, makes much of songs like 'Rhymes Have I', 'Fate', and 'Gesticulate'. But Adele Leigh, portraying Hajj 's daughter Marsinah, also makes a good showing with 'Baubles, Bangles and Beads', and, accompanied by Kenneth McKellar 's Caliph, 'Stranger in Paradise'. McKellar is effective in 'Night of My Nights', and Ian Wallace, as the Wazir, has lots of fun with 'Was I Wazir?' George Forrest and Robert Wright 's score, based on the works of Alexander Borodin, is well suited to Mantovani 's heavily orchestrated approach, and the result is a superior rendition of a much-recorded Broadway favorite."
William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide

CDLF 8104

CDLF 8112

CDLF 8122

CDLF 8126

CDLF 8130

This is the first ever CD reissue of his 1965 Decca stereo album Songs of the British Isles. Here the famous Scottish tenor is heard giving unique and beautiful interpretations of traditional songs – in arrangements by Bob Sharples – including Cockles and Mussels, Greensleeves and Island Moon among many others.

CDLF 8131