I've Heard That Song Before: Hits of Harry James

I've Heard That Song Before: Hits of Harry James Artist: Harry James & His Orchestra
Label: Jasmine Music
Category: Music



Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 2


UPC: 604988037524
EAN: 0604988037524
ASIN: B00005OLC4


Release Date: 2004-04-01

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Listmania:

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  3. IN THE MOOD: 25 DEFINITIVE SWING ERA CD COMPILATIONS

Tracks:

  1. You Made Me Love You
  2. I've Heard that Song Before
  3. Back Beat Boogie
  4. The Carnival Of Venice
  5. Strictly Instrumental
  6. I'll Buy That Dream
  7. Stompin At The Savoy
  8. The Flight Of The Bumble Bee
  9. Crazy Rhythm
  10. He's 1-A In The Army And He's A-1 In My Heart
  11. One O'Clock Jump
  12. Music Makers
  13. James Session
  14. My Silent Love
  15. Jeffrie's Blues
  16. Flatbush Flanagan
  17. Concerto For Trumpet
  18. I Cried For You
  19. Trumpet Rhapsody (Part 1)
  20. Trumpet Rhapsody (Part 2)
  21. Ain't Misbehavin'
  22. But Not For Me
  23. Cross Country Jump
  24. Jump Town

Tracks:

  1. Trumpet Blues & Cantabile
  2. The Mole
  3. September Song
  4. I'll Get By
  5. Moten Swing (Part 1)
  6. Moten Swing (Part 2)
  7. Feet Draggin' Blues
  8. I Had The Craziest Dream
  9. Two O'Clock Jump
  10. Yes, Indeed!
  11. I'm Beginning To See The Light
  12. Cherry
  13. Flash
  14. Skylark
  15. B-19
  16. All Or Nothing At All
  17. Dodgers' Fan Dance
  18. Sleepy Time Gal
  19. Record Session
  20. It's Been A Long, Long Time
  21. Sleepy Lagoon
  22. I Don't Want To Walk Without You
  23. Sharp As A Tack
  24. 9:20 Special
  25. Ciribiribin

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Customer Reviews:

4 out of 5 stars Good collection--oddly organized........2007-01-18

A good collection of Harry James. Audio is mono--as it should be--with gentle processing. Double cd includes fairly thorough liner notes in a 12 page booklet. I found the organization of songs somewhat annoying. I would have preferred to have music in order of release date--but that's just me. This collection is far superior to--and boasts better audio quality than--the other Harry James compilation I own ("Best Of Harry James..." on Curb label), which contains only 12 cuts! Jasmine label is okay, though I usually prefer ASV/Living Era collections. Why does it seem like the best compilations of American music are issued by European labels?!

2 out of 5 stars Not that great.......2007-01-09

better to purchase the Harry James Trumpet Blues CD. It has the better versions of his songs with Helen Forest, including the better version of "I've heard that song before". Go figure!

5 out of 5 stars Classic Music by a Trumpet Wizard.......2006-08-05

No doubt about it! Harry James was a superb trumpet player. This CD presents the listener with most of his best works. The quality of the recording is quite good. And the orchestration leaves little to be desired. I would strongly recommend anyone interested in Swing and Boogie Woogie music purchase this CD.

5 out of 5 stars A bargain for the the best of this superb swing musician!.......2004-02-25

When I first saw the price on this 2-CD set of music from big band swing leader and trumpet maestro Harry James, I was skeptical. I expected a cheaply produced, awful sounding and unmastered collection of bad airchecks and other live recordings. What a wonderful surprise to receive what is probably the definitive collection ever of Harry James! The CDs not only sound good, but it contains all of James's classic hit recordings in their original versions as they were released as singles, as well as many overlooked gems any swing fan or big band fanatic would love to have.

Here we have James in all his different modes: as a virtuoso trumpeter ("Trumpet Rhapsody"), as a leader of a smooth, sweet band with superb vocalists (Helen Forrest singing "I Had the Craziest Dream"; the swooning instrumental "You Made Me Love You"), and as the leader of a hard swingin' band for lindy-hopping dancers ("I've Heard that Song Before," "Two O'Clock Jump," "Strictly Instrumental," and plenty more). His other big hits, "Ciribiribin," "Trumpet Blues and Cantabile," and "Music Makers" are here as well. The time period covered is immense, from James's first recording as a leader in 1939, to his post-war recordings in 1947. And it's all great - everybody will find something to love here.

Along with the classics, here are some of the big surprises waiting for you: a 1939 small-group recording of "One O'Clock Jump" that was James's first session as the leader of a band. (He had just recorded "One O'Clock Jump" with Benny Goodman before departing the Goodman orchestra, so he must have felt comfortable with "One O'Clock Jump" as a place to start.) There's a six-minute long, 1947 recording of an old Goodman stand-by, "Stompin' at the Savoy," that turns the whole piece upside down and makes something entirely new out of it. Helen Forrest belts out a wartime morale raiser, "He's 1-A in the Army but A-1 in My Heart" I had never heard before - and any chance to hear more of the divine Ms. Forrest's voice is welcome! There's also some wonderful vocals from Kitty Kallen on this disc as well. And some swingy surprises I've never heard before: "Dodgers' Fan Dance" (written for the Brooklyn Dodgers, Harry James's favorite team), "Cross Country Jump," a two-part version of the swing anthem "Moten Swing," "Flatbush Flanagan," and a sweet, beautiful rendition of a song that's usually a jumping blues number, Fats Waller's "Ain't Misbehavin.'" There's even a track where James plays trumpet with just a rhythm section backing him, a great opportunity to hear his trumpet chops in their pure glory. (And man, could this guy play!)

All this for $14.99! I couldn't believe the quality and the quantity I got when I finally received these discs, opened them up, and slapped them in my CD player. (And let me tell you, they're not leaving my CD changer for a while!)

This is a bargain: jazz fans, lovers of 40s music and wartime nostalgia, swing dancers, big band nuts, grab this now before someone comes to their senses and starts charging more!

5 out of 5 stars Swing at its best.......2003-03-07

Harry James was, along with many other more well known artists of the WWII era, (Ie. Glenn Miller,Tommy Dorsey) a pionner of swing in it's rawest form. The basic foundations of his blues inspired compositions have been the baseboard of jump jivin' dancehall swing that we here all over the radio today and emulated by modern artists such as the Stray Cats and a myriad of Rockabilly groups heretofore and everything in between.
James took this genre to the nth degree, and went all over the map with it, but never becoming blase or redundant. He had an inimitable knack for composing low-slung blusey trumpet laden instrumentals right alongside jazz infused swinging jump jive and on into Doris Day backed vocal ballads, as can be heard on the wonderful soundtrack to the movie Young Man with a Horn which featured James' Orchestra and the man's wildly talented trumpet virtuoso.
James' music inpired more than this wonderful musician was ever given credit for, and any lover of the swing era would be amiss to not listen to, and discover what this awesome musician gave to us.

Music CD:

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  2. After the Storm ~ Norman Brown
  3. Que Pasa ~ Gato Barbieri
  4. Reverence ~ Richard Bona
  5. Travels ~ Pat Metheny Group
  6. Black, Brown and Beige ~ Duke Ellington
  7. Concert By The Sea ~ Erroll Garner
  8. Ken Burns JAZZ Collection: Coleman Hawkins ~ Coleman Hawkins
  9. Best of Dixieland ~ New Orleans Jazz Band
  10. Blue Mongol ~ Roswell Rudd

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Around the Way Girl ~ LL Cool J

Alive & Wired ~ Old 97's

Witch Season ~ The Court & Spark

Von Anfangan bis Jetz ~ Peter Schilling

Stolen Beauty ~ Lori Carson

Cold Spring Harbor ~ Billy Joel

From the Attic ~ Damone

Traditional Gypsy Flamenco ~ Various Artists

Nothin' But Drama ~ South Click

4, 5, 6 ~ Kool G Rap