Joe Venuti
DUETS
Joe Venuti is in his favorite setting, accompanied by Eddie Lang, Arthur Young, Frank Victor, Lennie Hayton, Russ Morgan, Perry Botkin, Tony Romano, Dick Hyman, Bucky Pizzarelli, Earl Hines, and Dave McKenna.
Joe Venuti & Eddie Lang
STRINGING THE BLUES
Not a blues. STRINGING THE BLUES (Venuti-Lang) is a Venuti-Lang variation on the chords of TIGER RAG. There is no melody to speak of. Once Lang brings things in with four bars upfront, the violinist is off and running and doesn’t come up for air for nearly three minutes. Even the 2 two-bar guitar chord breaks offer him little in the way of a respite.
Joe Venuti & Arthur Young
ROMANTIC JOE
Recorded in London, England, during the Maestro's overseas jaunt in the fall of 1934, Venuti, along with Frank Victor on guitar, plus a trio of English musicians: Arthur Young (piano), Don Barrigo (saxophone), and Doug Lees (bass), produced four stellar sides for Regal-Zonophone. The quintet is in top form. ROMANTIC JOE (Venuti) is a duet recording with Young that showcases the violinist's classical chops. This session is a must-hear, as it stands alongside the classic records he produced with Eddie Lang. (See Joe Venuti/Europe 1934 & 1969 for more.)
Joe Venuti & Frank Victor
DARK EYES
Recorded in December 1934, along with a slew of orchestra sides, many featuring Louie Prima, this cobbled-together recording session for the Associated Record Program Service is a bit of a mess but has its moments, in particular the four duets with Frank Victor. If you play the fiddle, DARK EYES (trad) is somewhere in your repertoire. Victor (Viggiano), an Eddie Lang protégé & paesano, was chosen by the violinist as his accompanist after Eddie Lang's untimely passing. Though he often remained in the shadows, Victor worked with two leading classic jazz exponents, Joe Venuti and Adrian Rollini, wrote and recorded guitar duets, and had a very high profile among readers and musicians because of his consistent presence in the music magazine, (The) Metronome. (For more about Frank Victor, visit Disciples/Frank Victor.)
Joe Venuti & Lennie Hayton
BLACK SATIN
1939 Radio Broadcast
BLACK SATIN (Venuti-Morgan) was first recorded in 1935 with Russ Morgan on piano. This original by Venuti and Morgan appears here in a rare 1939 radio broadcast aircheck featuring Lennie Hayton at the piano. Hayton served Bing Crosby well for years as accompanist and conductor and could hold his own when seated at the keyboard.
Joe Venuti & Russ Morgan
APPLE BLOSSOMS
A sweet reading of APPLE BLOSSOMS (Hayton-Venuti-Lang-Trumbauer) by Venuti & Morgan of this 1929 Hayton-Venuti-Lang-Trumbauer charmer showcases the violinist and pianist skillfully exploring the melody throughout.
Joe Venuti & Perry Botkin
THE WILD DOG
From a Bing Crosby radio broadcast, THE WILD DOG (Venuti) gets the duet treatment with Perry Botkin on guitar (actually, it's a trio with a bass player). A Venuti creation from 1928, and a tour de force for the violinist, his complete command of the bow and dazzling technique is on display for just shy of two minutes. Botkin strummed for Bing Crosby for nearly twenty years. In his own right, he was a band leader, conductor, composer, and arranger. The next time you come across reruns of "The Beverly Hillbillies," you'll be hearing Perry Botkin's work.
Joe Venuti & Tony Romano
FEELING FREE AND EASY
TONY ROMANO: “Joe & I continued to play together at private parties or at each other’s houses when we would meet for “spags” and hot peppers (Joe’s favorite food). I finally convinced Joe to go to Gold Star Studios one evening in 1954, and this album was created with the assistance of 1 microphone, two bottles of red wine, four hot pepper sandwiches, and about 40 friends of Joe’s. The guitar you hear is Eddie Lang’s “L-5”, left for Joe when Eddie died. Joe gave it to me (and whoever stole it from my “Chevy” is still not safe). I only wish you could have heard some of the dialogue in between takes, but most of it is not suitable for Albanians. After 4 hours, we ran out of peppers. That was the end of the music.”
FEELING FREE AND EASY (Venuti-Romano) is from the 1954 Gold Star Studio Venuti/Romano session. Of all the guitarists that crossed Joe Venuti's path after Eddie Lang, it was Tony Romano who captured the essence of Lang and that undefinable ability to accompany Venuti with grace and elegance. By the way, FEELING FREE AND EASY shows up in orchestrated form as MIDNIGHT IN MONTE CARLO on the 1955 Grand Award records release "Joe Venuti Accompanied By Paul Whiteman And His Orchestra – The World's Greatest Jazz Violinist And His Fiddle On Fire." (It’s worth a listen!)
Joe Venuti & Dick Hyman
THE PERFECT RAG
Recorded by Jelly Roll Morton for Gennett Records in 1924, PERFECT RAG (Morton) is one of two Venuti/Hyman duets from Dick Hyman’s 1974 Jelly Roll Morton project, The Rags, Stomps, & Blues Of Ferdinand "Jelly Roll" Morton (SHREVEPORT STOMP is the other duet). Venuti & Hyman give a solid reading with room for “blowing” on this Jelly Roll Morton composition.
Joe Venuti & Bucky Pizzarelli
BLUE TOO
HANK O’NEAL: “Venuti was so pleased with his first Chiaroscuro recording, he returned to the studio less than a year later, in May 1974. This time, some care had been taken in selecting songs and structuring different combinations of musicians. In fact, we planned five different instrumental combinations, ranging from duets to an eight-piece group. The duets with Bucky Pizzarelli recalled Venuti’s long association with Eddie Lang.”
BLUE TOO (Venuti – Pizzarelli) has Bucky playing his acoustic Gibson L-5 to great effect as he accompanies the Maestro, who starts the piece with his bow wrapped around his fiddle in “Four-String Fashion.” Bucky’s extended interlude provides the violinist the opportunity to reassemble his bow, and together they take a swinging chorus to conclude this heartfelt tribute to the Venuti-Lang tradition.
Joe Venuti & Earl Hines
ROSETTA
HANK O’NEAL: I like duets, particularly jazz duets that are unusual. No one, in recent memory, has explored the jazz possibilities of piano and violin, one of the most functional of classical combinations. I had toyed with the idea of combining Joe and Earl for some time, but unfortunately, the two were rarely in town at the same time. Finally, they came together in October 1975, and the results were overwhelming. Both guys came to play; there was no nonsense, just two of the most creative guys in music doing the job in their own unique way.
ROSETTA (Hines), one of classic jazz players' cherished vehicles for improvisation, is taken at a brisk tempo by the Venuti/Hines duo. It begins with a rubato opening, followed by three choruses, with both jazz giants jamming together during the final chorus—a truly beautiful performance!"
Joe Venuti & Dave McKenna
AIN’T DOIN’ BAD DOIN’ NOTHIN’
HANK O’NEAL: “Joe was back at the Palace Theatre (Albany, New York) in April 1977, sitting behind a massive, shiny new nine-foot grand piano. He plays piano well, but not as well as Dave McKenna, for whom he was waiting, to begin recording an album of duets. He hadn’t been in the theater since 1941. The stage lights weren’t on yet, and out of the darkness, he said, “Hey, turn that thing on, I want to record one.” He played out one of his tunes called AIN’T DOIN’ BAD DOIN’ NOTHIN’. He neglected to mention that he planned to sing, and the take was ruined. He didn’t care; he said he’d sing it again after he taught the song to Dave.”
And that he did. There are several instances of the Maestro singing, almost all of which feature his faux opera voice, ranging from guttural lows to screaming highs (absolute madness!) In a rare, controlled rendition, co-composer Venuti (Lee Jarvis wrote the lyrics) delivers a tender two-chorus performance: one instrumental and one vocal, with gentle accompaniment by McKenna. The laughter at the end of the track perfectly captures Joe Venuti’s love of life and music.
AIN’T DOIN’ BAD DOIN’ NOTHIN’ (Venuti-Jarvis) did bring in some royalty (which I believe he signed away to wife number three), thanks to cover versions by Bing Crosby, Peggy Lee, Dean Hudson, The Hi-Lo's, Helen Forrest and The Crew Chiefs, Alice Babs, Tommy Mercer, and Sammy Kaye.
CODA: As the Maestro’s on-and-off chauffeur and chaperone—I met him in 1974 during his Michael’s Pub gig in NYC—I had the pleasure of traveling with him during his performances in New York City, upstate New York, and Canada, sprinkled with family visits and memorable dining experiences (Grotta Azzurra and Michael’s in NYC). At that time, he showed no signs of ill health, pending or otherwise. Little did he know that at the time of this recording session in April 1977, only seventeen months later, his song would be over.
SPECIAL THANKS
Hank O’Neal & Chiaroscuro Records - chiaroscurojazz.org
Mosaic Records - mosaicrecords.com
Richard Niles - richardniles.com
The Estate of Frank Victor