A voice in a Million!, 30 Jan 2008
Oh what joy to have discovered again the very special talent of Ottilie! As a teenager I went to listen to her in London with The Chris Barber Band - at the time I realised what an amazing voice and talent I was listening to but only later did I realise just how good. High up there with the greats of jazz singers, and certainly with a strong hint of Bessie Smith. ENJOY!

Memories re - visited, 07 Oct 2003
I was approximately 11 years old when I first heard most of the tracks on this album. I am now 56 so I thought the re-visit would be clouded by nostalgia. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the music would stand against any contemporary in the same field. New listeners will find that the voice of Ottilie Patterson has a mature and soulful quality not matched by many. An excellent album, I only wish there was more.

A voice in a Million!, 30 Jan 2008
Oh what joy to have discovered again the very special talent of Ottilie! As a teenager I went to listen to her in London with The Chris Barber Band - at the time I realised what an amazing voice and talent I was listening to but only later did I realise just how good. High up there with the greats of jazz singers, and certainly with a strong hint of Bessie Smith. ENJOY!

Memories re - visited, 07 Oct 2003
I was approximately 11 years old when I first heard most of the tracks on this album. I am now 56 so I thought the re-visit would be clouded by nostalgia. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the music would stand against any contemporary in the same field. New listeners will find that the voice of Ottilie Patterson has a mature and soulful quality not matched by many. An excellent album, I only wish there was more.

Kenny Ball? What does he call the other one?, 19 Aug 2006
Some of the tunes on this are nearly fifty years old and they are still swinging. Wow, he may not be considered the coolest artist on the planet...but Kenny's got Balls!!!!!

Have a ball with Kenny, 28 Nov 2003
Kenny Ball, along with his mates and rivals Acker Bilk and Chris Barber, brought trad jazz to the British public conscience in the 1960s. Kenny's forte was to give the treatment, with tongue firmly in cheek (difficult when playing the trumpet!), to all sorts of popular songs of the time. Nothing was sacred - Cole Porter, Mozart, The Beatles, Walt Disney - and as a consequence his band was a regular in the Top 20 charts.

This collection contains all the hits, all original recordings and sounding amazingly sprightly for their age. The music has no pretentions, just to have fun and sound good - you may find yourself whistling or singing along to some of them.

A voice in a Million!, 30 Jan 2008
Oh what joy to have discovered again the very special talent of Ottilie! As a teenager I went to listen to her in London with The Chris Barber Band - at the time I realised what an amazing voice and talent I was listening to but only later did I realise just how good. High up there with the greats of jazz singers, and certainly with a strong hint of Bessie Smith. ENJOY!

Memories re - visited, 07 Oct 2003
I was approximately 11 years old when I first heard most of the tracks on this album. I am now 56 so I thought the re-visit would be clouded by nostalgia. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the music would stand against any contemporary in the same field. New listeners will find that the voice of Ottilie Patterson has a mature and soulful quality not matched by many. An excellent album, I only wish there was more.

Kenny Ball? What does he call the other one?, 19 Aug 2006
Some of the tunes on this are nearly fifty years old and they are still swinging. Wow, he may not be considered the coolest artist on the planet...but Kenny's got Balls!!!!!

Have a ball with Kenny, 28 Nov 2003
Kenny Ball, along with his mates and rivals Acker Bilk and Chris Barber, brought trad jazz to the British public conscience in the 1960s. Kenny's forte was to give the treatment, with tongue firmly in cheek (difficult when playing the trumpet!), to all sorts of popular songs of the time. Nothing was sacred - Cole Porter, Mozart, The Beatles, Walt Disney - and as a consequence his band was a regular in the Top 20 charts.

This collection contains all the hits, all original recordings and sounding amazingly sprightly for their age. The music has no pretentions, just to have fun and sound good - you may find yourself whistling or singing along to some of them.

Ahead of its time, 19 Nov 2006
I've often wondered just what it must have sounded like the day the ODJB was first heard in England.Imagine the genteel drawing room with its Victrola for playing the new fangled 78s of ballad singers like John McCormack,Peter Dawson or Dame Clara Butt.Suddenly on goes a 78 by a new American band who the audience think is going to be some brass band playing a March.
The needle hits the record and the Sound of Hell opens up!!!
Yes it was Livery Stable Blues complete with farmyard impressions and what to the audience sounded like hideously discordant music or maybe the phonograph had broken down!

Shortly after the ODJB appeared in England to support a comedian called George Robey who is alleged to have said "either they go or I go"!

After this event though the floodgates opened and a mighty lot of black jazz appeared from the likes of Louis Armstrong and Jelly Roll Morton.

The ODJB had begun a tradition which still exists:the way the white man takes black music and is more succesful with it.
There was though a long way to go-jazz had to be watered down in order to become commercial and acceptable and again it was white men who did it-Benny Goodman had actually purchased arrangements from some black musician and launched his own career.However Goodman was the first to employ blacks in his bands eg Lionel Hampton

The ODJB music was still hard going for some in the 60s when the first reissues began because acoustic recordings were alien.However the band had recorded electrically in the 30s.
These recordings are now Historic-the first jazz records. And being transferred onto CD with extra tracks stresses just how important when all musics are acceptable to people.
Yet the first ODJB things could still clear the supermarket!

A voice in a Million!, 30 Jan 2008
Oh what joy to have discovered again the very special talent of Ottilie! As a teenager I went to listen to her in London with The Chris Barber Band - at the time I realised what an amazing voice and talent I was listening to but only later did I realise just how good. High up there with the greats of jazz singers, and certainly with a strong hint of Bessie Smith. ENJOY!

Memories re - visited, 07 Oct 2003
I was approximately 11 years old when I first heard most of the tracks on this album. I am now 56 so I thought the re-visit would be clouded by nostalgia. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the music would stand against any contemporary in the same field. New listeners will find that the voice of Ottilie Patterson has a mature and soulful quality not matched by many. An excellent album, I only wish there was more.

Kenny Ball? What does he call the other one?, 19 Aug 2006
Some of the tunes on this are nearly fifty years old and they are still swinging. Wow, he may not be considered the coolest artist on the planet...but Kenny's got Balls!!!!!

Have a ball with Kenny, 28 Nov 2003
Kenny Ball, along with his mates and rivals Acker Bilk and Chris Barber, brought trad jazz to the British public conscience in the 1960s. Kenny's forte was to give the treatment, with tongue firmly in cheek (difficult when playing the trumpet!), to all sorts of popular songs of the time. Nothing was sacred - Cole Porter, Mozart, The Beatles, Walt Disney - and as a consequence his band was a regular in the Top 20 charts.

This collection contains all the hits, all original recordings and sounding amazingly sprightly for their age. The music has no pretentions, just to have fun and sound good - you may find yourself whistling or singing along to some of them.

Ahead of its time, 19 Nov 2006
I've often wondered just what it must have sounded like the day the ODJB was first heard in England.Imagine the genteel drawing room with its Victrola for playing the new fangled 78s of ballad singers like John McCormack,Peter Dawson or Dame Clara Butt.Suddenly on goes a 78 by a new American band who the audience think is going to be some brass band playing a March.
The needle hits the record and the Sound of Hell opens up!!!
Yes it was Livery Stable Blues complete with farmyard impressions and what to the audience sounded like hideously discordant music or maybe the phonograph had broken down!

Shortly after the ODJB appeared in England to support a comedian called George Robey who is alleged to have said "either they go or I go"!

After this event though the floodgates opened and a mighty lot of black jazz appeared from the likes of Louis Armstrong and Jelly Roll Morton.

The ODJB had begun a tradition which still exists:the way the white man takes black music and is more succesful with it.
There was though a long way to go-jazz had to be watered down in order to become commercial and acceptable and again it was white men who did it-Benny Goodman had actually purchased arrangements from some black musician and launched his own career.However Goodman was the first to employ blacks in his bands eg Lionel Hampton

The ODJB music was still hard going for some in the 60s when the first reissues began because acoustic recordings were alien.However the band had recorded electrically in the 30s.
These recordings are now Historic-the first jazz records. And being transferred onto CD with extra tracks stresses just how important when all musics are acceptable to people.
Yet the first ODJB things could still clear the supermarket!

LIKE BRITISH TRAD JAZZ? THEN BUY THIS!!, 18 Nov 2008
20 toe-tapping tracks for only £2.98! You can't go wrong and will enjoy the best it can get!!
All the great jazz classics are on here including THE haunting "Petite Fleur" with Monty Sunshine, along with some cracking live tracks AND 6 numbers featuring the fabulous voice of Ottilie Patterson.
If "April Showers" alone doesn't get your feet a jiggin' then you must be a piece of wood........man!
There's not one bad track on this album, which all come from the mid to late 1950's and it finishes with a rousing last track of a live version of "You Rascal You"; so buy it NOW Daddio and get in the groove!

A voice in a Million!, 30 Jan 2008
Oh what joy to have discovered again the very special talent of Ottilie! As a teenager I went to listen to her in London with The Chris Barber Band - at the time I realised what an amazing voice and talent I was listening to but only later did I realise just how good. High up there with the greats of jazz singers, and certainly with a strong hint of Bessie Smith. ENJOY!

Memories re - visited, 07 Oct 2003
I was approximately 11 years old when I first heard most of the tracks on this album. I am now 56 so I thought the re-visit would be clouded by nostalgia. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the music would stand against any contemporary in the same field. New listeners will find that the voice of Ottilie Patterson has a mature and soulful quality not matched by many. An excellent album, I only wish there was more.

Kenny Ball? What does he call the other one?, 19 Aug 2006
Some of the tunes on this are nearly fifty years old and they are still swinging. Wow, he may not be considered the coolest artist on the planet...but Kenny's got Balls!!!!!

Have a ball with Kenny, 28 Nov 2003
Kenny Ball, along with his mates and rivals Acker Bilk and Chris Barber, brought trad jazz to the British public conscience in the 1960s. Kenny's forte was to give the treatment, with tongue firmly in cheek (difficult when playing the trumpet!), to all sorts of popular songs of the time. Nothing was sacred - Cole Porter, Mozart, The Beatles, Walt Disney - and as a consequence his band was a regular in the Top 20 charts.

This collection contains all the hits, all original recordings and sounding amazingly sprightly for their age. The music has no pretentions, just to have fun and sound good - you may find yourself whistling or singing along to some of them.

Ahead of its time, 19 Nov 2006
I've often wondered just what it must have sounded like the day the ODJB was first heard in England.Imagine the genteel drawing room with its Victrola for playing the new fangled 78s of ballad singers like John McCormack,Peter Dawson or Dame Clara Butt.Suddenly on goes a 78 by a new American band who the audience think is going to be some brass band playing a March.
The needle hits the record and the Sound of Hell opens up!!!
Yes it was Livery Stable Blues complete with farmyard impressions and what to the audience sounded like hideously discordant music or maybe the phonograph had broken down!

Shortly after the ODJB appeared in England to support a comedian called George Robey who is alleged to have said "either they go or I go"!

After this event though the floodgates opened and a mighty lot of black jazz appeared from the likes of Louis Armstrong and Jelly Roll Morton.

The ODJB had begun a tradition which still exists:the way the white man takes black music and is more succesful with it.
There was though a long way to go-jazz had to be watered down in order to become commercial and acceptable and again it was white men who did it-Benny Goodman had actually purchased arrangements from some black musician and launched his own career.However Goodman was the first to employ blacks in his bands eg Lionel Hampton

The ODJB music was still hard going for some in the 60s when the first reissues began because acoustic recordings were alien.However the band had recorded electrically in the 30s.
These recordings are now Historic-the first jazz records. And being transferred onto CD with extra tracks stresses just how important when all musics are acceptable to people.
Yet the first ODJB things could still clear the supermarket!

LIKE BRITISH TRAD JAZZ? THEN BUY THIS!!, 18 Nov 2008
20 toe-tapping tracks for only £2.98! You can't go wrong and will enjoy the best it can get!!
All the great jazz classics are on here including THE haunting "Petite Fleur" with Monty Sunshine, along with some cracking live tracks AND 6 numbers featuring the fabulous voice of Ottilie Patterson.
If "April Showers" alone doesn't get your feet a jiggin' then you must be a piece of wood........man!
There's not one bad track on this album, which all come from the mid to late 1950's and it finishes with a rousing last track of a live version of "You Rascal You"; so buy it NOW Daddio and get in the groove!



A great souvenir of a British jazz legend, 16 Aug 2007
Since George Melly died earler this year, I have tried to buy up some of the recordings that made him famous and brought back memories of the two occasions when I was lucky enough to see him perform live. Of all the available albums, this one may not have the most recognisable standards (though Frankie and Johnny are present and correct) but it perhaps sums 'Goodtime George' up best - the title really does say it all.

Even the more bluesy numbers feel quite swinging and up-tempo (check out Send Me to the 'Lectric Chair) and fun numbers like Mississippi Mud and Abdul Abulbul Amir - not one you could get away with singing these days, I should think! - transport you to a night at Ronnie Scott's just before Christmas, the booze flowing freely, cigarette smoking still permitted.

Good on you, George - you'll be sorely missed!

Melly at his best, 05 Jul 2007
These are early mono recordings when George's voice was at its most powerful. The honest interpretation & the depth of soul & emotion and that come out from these songs tell me that he was one of the best jazz singers ever, on any side of the Atlantic.

Very early work, 08 Apr 2005
This cd is an album of VERY early work - 1950's to 1970's.

George Melly's voice and delivery is very little like the relaxed, lived-in style of later, possibly better known years.

Personally, I found it interesting but ultimately disappointing.

George Melly at his very best., 14 Oct 2001
This CD is the best compilation I have come across of George's early work. From the lively rendition of Black Bottom to the dryly humerous Grandmothers Old Arm Chair, this album is upbeat throughout, you can't help but sing and dance along.

A voice in a Million!, 30 Jan 2008
Oh what joy to have discovered again the very special talent of Ottilie! As a teenager I went to listen to her in London with The Chris Barber Band - at the time I realised what an amazing voice and talent I was listening to but only later did I realise just how good. High up there with the greats of jazz singers, and certainly with a strong hint of Bessie Smith. ENJOY!

Memories re - visited, 07 Oct 2003
I was approximately 11 years old when I first heard most of the tracks on this album. I am now 56 so I thought the re-visit would be clouded by nostalgia. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the music would stand against any contemporary in the same field. New listeners will find that the voice of Ottilie Patterson has a mature and soulful quality not matched by many. An excellent album, I only wish there was more.

Kenny Ball? What does he call the other one?, 19 Aug 2006
Some of the tunes on this are nearly fifty years old and they are still swinging. Wow, he may not be considered the coolest artist on the planet...but Kenny's got Balls!!!!!

Have a ball with Kenny, 28 Nov 2003
Kenny Ball, along with his mates and rivals Acker Bilk and Chris Barber, brought trad jazz to the British public conscience in the 1960s. Kenny's forte was to give the treatment, with tongue firmly in cheek (difficult when playing the trumpet!), to all sorts of popular songs of the time. Nothing was sacred - Cole Porter, Mozart, The Beatles, Walt Disney - and as a consequence his band was a regular in the Top 20 charts.

This collection contains all the hits, all original recordings and sounding amazingly sprightly for their age. The music has no pretentions, just to have fun and sound good - you may find yourself whistling or singing along to some of them.

Ahead of its time, 19 Nov 2006
I've often wondered just what it must have sounded like the day the ODJB was first heard in England.Imagine the genteel drawing room with its Victrola for playing the new fangled 78s of ballad singers like John McCormack,Peter Dawson or Dame Clara Butt.Suddenly on goes a 78 by a new American band who the audience think is going to be some brass band playing a March.
The needle hits the record and the Sound of Hell opens up!!!
Yes it was Livery Stable Blues complete with farmyard impressions and what to the audience sounded like hideously discordant music or maybe the phonograph had broken down!

Shortly after the ODJB appeared in England to support a comedian called George Robey who is alleged to have said "either they go or I go"!

After this event though the floodgates opened and a mighty lot of black jazz appeared from the likes of Louis Armstrong and Jelly Roll Morton.

The ODJB had begun a tradition which still exists:the way the white man takes black music and is more succesful with it.
There was though a long way to go-jazz had to be watered down in order to become commercial and acceptable and again it was white men who did it-Benny Goodman had actually purchased arrangements from some black musician and launched his own career.However Goodman was the first to employ blacks in his bands eg Lionel Hampton

The ODJB music was still hard going for some in the 60s when the first reissues began because acoustic recordings were alien.However the band had recorded electrically in the 30s.
These recordings are now Historic-the first jazz records. And being transferred onto CD with extra tracks stresses just how important when all musics are acceptable to people.
Yet the first ODJB things could still clear the supermarket!

LIKE BRITISH TRAD JAZZ? THEN BUY THIS!!, 18 Nov 2008
20 toe-tapping tracks for only £2.98! You can't go wrong and will enjoy the best it can get!!
All the great jazz classics are on here including THE haunting "Petite Fleur" with Monty Sunshine, along with some cracking live tracks AND 6 numbers featuring the fabulous voice of Ottilie Patterson.
If "April Showers" alone doesn't get your feet a jiggin' then you must be a piece of wood........man!
There's not one bad track on this album, which all come from the mid to late 1950's and it finishes with a rousing last track of a live version of "You Rascal You"; so buy it NOW Daddio and get in the groove!



A great souvenir of a British jazz legend, 16 Aug 2007
Since George Melly died earler this year, I have tried to buy up some of the recordings that made him famous and brought back memories of the two occasions when I was lucky enough to see him perform live. Of all the available albums, this one may not have the most recognisable standards (though Frankie and Johnny are present and correct) but it perhaps sums 'Goodtime George' up best - the title really does say it all.

Even the more bluesy numbers feel quite swinging and up-tempo (check out Send Me to the 'Lectric Chair) and fun numbers like Mississippi Mud and Abdul Abulbul Amir - not one you could get away with singing these days, I should think! - transport you to a night at Ronnie Scott's just before Christmas, the booze flowing freely, cigarette smoking still permitted.

Good on you, George - you'll be sorely missed!

Melly at his best, 05 Jul 2007
These are early mono recordings when George's voice was at its most powerful. The honest interpretation & the depth of soul & emotion and that come out from these songs tell me that he was one of the best jazz singers ever, on any side of the Atlantic.

Very early work, 08 Apr 2005
This cd is an album of VERY early work - 1950's to 1970's.

George Melly's voice and delivery is very little like the relaxed, lived-in style of later, possibly better known years.

Personally, I found it interesting but ultimately disappointing.

George Melly at his very best., 14 Oct 2001
This CD is the best compilation I have come across of George's early work. From the lively rendition of Black Bottom to the dryly humerous Grandmothers Old Arm Chair, this album is upbeat throughout, you can't help but sing and dance along.

Marvellous Melly, 29 Aug 2008
Melly croons his way through over a dozen well-known and lesser known songs with his jazz chums on this very fine record. His version of 'September Song' starts off bizarrely and then settles down while 'Anything Goes' and all the others are beautifully performed. He sings well, the musicians are all excellent and the production outstanding. This is real swinging stuff.

Chris Barber's band is, quite simply, one of the most popular bands in the entire history of jazz. The world tour celebrating its 40th birthday went on for almost two years, and it is now in its 46th year. Barber himself celebrated his 70th birthday recently with gala broadcast on BBC Radio Two. The band's continuing success depends partly on the nostalgic appeal of its most famous numbers and a fair number of them are contained here, among them chart hits such as "Petite Fleur" and "Whistling Rufus" and traditional jazz favourites such as "High Society" and "Panama Rag". These recordings derive from the late 1950s and early 60s, when the band featured the inimitable, singing clarinet of Monty Sunshine and the astonishing authentic blues vocals of Ottile Patterson. The superb trumpet of Pat Halcox drives the whole thing along wonderfully--as it continues to do to this day.--Dave Gelly

A voice in a Million!, 30 Jan 2008
Oh what joy to have discovered again the very special talent of Ottilie! As a teenager I went to listen to her in London with The Chris Barber Band - at the time I realised what an amazing voice and talent I was listening to but only later did I realise just how good. High up there with the greats of jazz singers, and certainly with a strong hint of Bessie Smith. ENJOY!

Memories re - visited, 07 Oct 2003
I was approximately 11 years old when I first heard most of the tracks on this album. I am now 56 so I thought the re-visit would be clouded by nostalgia. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the music would stand against any contemporary in the same field. New listeners will find that the voice of Ottilie Patterson has a mature and soulful quality not matched by many. An excellent album, I only wish there was more.

Kenny Ball? What does he call the other one?, 19 Aug 2006
Some of the tunes on this are nearly fifty years old and they are still swinging. Wow, he may not be considered the coolest artist on the planet...but Kenny's got Balls!!!!!

Have a ball with Kenny, 28 Nov 2003
Kenny Ball, along with his mates and rivals Acker Bilk and Chris Barber, brought trad jazz to the British public conscience in the 1960s. Kenny's forte was to give the treatment, with tongue firmly in cheek (difficult when playing the trumpet!), to all sorts of popular songs of the time. Nothing was sacred - Cole Porter, Mozart, The Beatles, Walt Disney - and as a consequence his band was a regular in the Top 20 charts.

This collection contains all the hits, all original recordings and sounding amazingly sprightly for their age. The music has no pretentions, just to have fun and sound good - you may find yourself whistling or singing along to some of them.

Ahead of its time, 19 Nov 2006
I've often wondered just what it must have sounded like the day the ODJB was first heard in England.Imagine the genteel drawing room with its Victrola for playing the new fangled 78s of ballad singers like John McCormack,Peter Dawson or Dame Clara Butt.Suddenly on goes a 78 by a new American band who the audience think is going to be some brass band playing a March.
The needle hits the record and the Sound of Hell opens up!!!
Yes it was Livery Stable Blues complete with farmyard impressions and what to the audience sounded like hideously discordant music or maybe the phonograph had broken down!

Shortly after the ODJB appeared in England to support a comedian called George Robey who is alleged to have said "either they go or I go"!

After this event though the floodgates opened and a mighty lot of black jazz appeared from the likes of Louis Armstrong and Jelly Roll Morton.

The ODJB had begun a tradition which still exists:the way the white man takes black music and is more succesful with it.
There was though a long way to go-jazz had to be watered down in order to become commercial and acceptable and again it was white men who did it-Benny Goodman had actually purchased arrangements from some black musician and launched his own career.However Goodman was the first to employ blacks in his bands eg Lionel Hampton

The ODJB music was still hard going for some in the 60s when the first reissues began because acoustic recordings were alien.However the band had recorded electrically in the 30s.
These recordings are now Historic-the first jazz records. And being transferred onto CD with extra tracks stresses just how important when all musics are acceptable to people.
Yet the first ODJB things could still clear the supermarket!

LIKE BRITISH TRAD JAZZ? THEN BUY THIS!!, 18 Nov 2008
20 toe-tapping tracks for only £2.98! You can't go wrong and will enjoy the best it can get!!
All the great jazz classics are on here including THE haunting "Petite Fleur" with Monty Sunshine, along with some cracking live tracks AND 6 numbers featuring the fabulous voice of Ottilie Patterson.
If "April Showers" alone doesn't get your feet a jiggin' then you must be a piece of wood........man!
There's not one bad track on this album, which all come from the mid to late 1950's and it finishes with a rousing last track of a live version of "You Rascal You"; so buy it NOW Daddio and get in the groove!



A great souvenir of a British jazz legend, 16 Aug 2007
Since George Melly died earler this year, I have tried to buy up some of the recordings that made him famous and brought back memories of the two occasions when I was lucky enough to see him perform live. Of all the available albums, this one may not have the most recognisable standards (though Frankie and Johnny are present and correct) but it perhaps sums 'Goodtime George' up best - the title really does say it all.

Even the more bluesy numbers feel quite swinging and up-tempo (check out Send Me to the 'Lectric Chair) and fun numbers like Mississippi Mud and Abdul Abulbul Amir - not one you could get away with singing these days, I should think! - transport you to a night at Ronnie Scott's just before Christmas, the booze flowing freely, cigarette smoking still permitted.

Good on you, George - you'll be sorely missed!

Melly at his best, 05 Jul 2007
These are early mono recordings when George's voice was at its most powerful. The honest interpretation & the depth of soul & emotion and that come out from these songs tell me that he was one of the best jazz singers ever, on any side of the Atlantic.

Very early work, 08 Apr 2005
This cd is an album of VERY early work - 1950's to 1970's.

George Melly's voice and delivery is very little like the relaxed, lived-in style of later, possibly better known years.

Personally, I found it interesting but ultimately disappointing.

George Melly at his very best., 14 Oct 2001
This CD is the best compilation I have come across of George's early work. From the lively rendition of Black Bottom to the dryly humerous Grandmothers Old Arm Chair, this album is upbeat throughout, you can't help but sing and dance along.

Marvellous Melly, 29 Aug 2008
Melly croons his way through over a dozen well-known and lesser known songs with his jazz chums on this very fine record. His version of 'September Song' starts off bizarrely and then settles down while 'Anything Goes' and all the others are beautifully performed. He sings well, the musicians are all excellent and the production outstanding. This is real swinging stuff.

Jackman the Shining Star, 23 Feb 2004
I heartily agree this CD would be best enjoyed if the show had been seen in person. This review, though, is based off the CD alone.

Pro: Following the life of Peter Allan, the Boy From Oz is an undeniably enthusiastic rendering of his life, using songs Allan wrote.
Con: This enthusiasm, however, does sometimes bleed over into happy "cheese." Many people have never heard of Peter Allan until now, and his music does have a somewhat dated sound (70s).

Note: If you don't like Liza Minnelli's voice in real life, you won't like how she's rendered here - it's pretty good! The same goes for the style. The Boy from Oz might be a bit like "Hair" - you either love it or hate it.

Pro: His music was meant to be performed from the get-go, few songs have been converted to the stage.
Con: The CD doesn't do a great job of conveying the character nuances you'd get from seeing a live performance.

Pro: Here Jackman proves his roots as a song and dance man. The Bonus Track "Tenterfield Saddler" (was it cut?) is probably the best as it really shows off Jackman's voice. Jarrod Emick as 'Greg' in "I Honestly Love You" is also talented.

Con: The majority of the show is so 'full on' that the other singers seem to go flat/sharp more often that they should on a professional recording. (In particular, 'Don't Cry Out Loud' is a bit soured because the actress goes sharp a number of times.)

Pro: The show matures as you listen. I tend to think Act II is much better than Act I.

Nitpick: I don't think the CD is that well produced, found a typo, and in 2 songs when 'Minnelli' is singing the sound goes a bit loud/fuzzy as if she's standing too close to the recording microphone. This should have been fixed! (I've checked, it's not my speakers). The pictures are great, however!

So why 4 stars?
Though I've highlighted a few 'cons', I think they generally balance out with the 'pros.' In the end you get a pretty good, busy CD with a lot a decent vocal talent. Jackman and a few others shine above the rest. I don't think it will be remembered forever, but it's not a bad addition to the musical genre.

Magic Moments in the Theatre, 21 Dec 2003
You have to have seen the show to put this cast recording into the full emotional context of how Peter Allen's life and music have been portrayed on stage! Hugh Jackman's highly acclaimed performance ( conceded now as frontrunning for the 2003 Tony awards) brings to life the story of Peter - and he does it with great acting, appealing singing, solid dancing skills, and sheer charisma. His rapport and engaging manner with the audience wins him fans, from the show's critics and audience alike.

The songs in the album are presented in the context of the rewritten book of the musical, brought to life by wonderful emotive and vocal performances by Hugh and his amazing supporting cast. He brings such tenderness to the bonus track Tenterfield Saddler ( cut from the show but for good reasons), brings the audience to an emotional high with Once Before I Go ( often ended by a rare standing ovation before the end of a show), delights with the joyous or poignant displays in his duets with Judy, Liza, and Greg. His I Go to Rio is such an awesome spectacle you feel like doing the latin dance it evokes. Sadly, the BI-COASTAL number on the disc does not include the now famous audience interaction scenes which have become one the show's most enjoyable moments. Neither does the album fully capture the joyous spirit of Not The Boy Next Door and Everything Old Is New Again. But that is not the fault of this well-conceived album - you simply have to view the performance to capture the visual and vocal appeal of the musical score and its settings... Stephanie Block also delivers impressively in her numbers and Jarrod Emick imbues I Honestly Love You with such honest emotions...But my favourite song is turning out to be ALL THE LIVES OF ME - sung by Hugh with such a wry and poignant expression, one can almost feel the regrets and the joys which marked the life of Peter Allen.

Get the cast album - even better, save like mad and go to New York for that evening of pure entertainment. I have done it - no less than 6 times!

A voice in a Million!, 30 Jan 2008
Oh what joy to have discovered again the very special talent of Ottilie! As a teenager I went to listen to her in London with The Chris Barber Band - at the time I realised what an amazing voice and talent I was listening to but only later did I realise just how good. High up there with the greats of jazz singers, and certainly with a strong hint of Bessie Smith. ENJOY!

Memories re - visited, 07 Oct 2003
I was approximately 11 years old when I first heard most of the tracks on this album. I am now 56 so I thought the re-visit would be clouded by nostalgia. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the music would stand against any contemporary in the same field. New listeners will find that the voice of Ottilie Patterson has a mature and soulful quality not matched by many. An excellent album, I only wish there was more.

Kenny Ball? What does he call the other one?, 19 Aug 2006
Some of the tunes on this are nearly fifty years old and they are still swinging. Wow, he may not be considered the coolest artist on the planet...but Kenny's got Balls!!!!!

Have a ball with Kenny, 28 Nov 2003
Kenny Ball, along with his mates and rivals Acker Bilk and Chris Barber, brought trad jazz to the British public conscience in the 1960s. Kenny's forte was to give the treatment, with tongue firmly in cheek (difficult when playing the trumpet!), to all sorts of popular songs of the time. Nothing was sacred - Cole Porter, Mozart, The Beatles, Walt Disney - and as a consequence his band was a regular in the Top 20 charts.

This collection contains all the hits, all original recordings and sounding amazingly sprightly for their age. The music has no pretentions, just to have fun and sound good - you may find yourself whistling or singing along to some of them.

Ahead of its time, 19 Nov 2006
I've often wondered just what it must have sounded like the day the ODJB was first heard in England.Imagine the genteel drawing room with its Victrola for playing the new fangled 78s of ballad singers like John McCormack,Peter Dawson or Dame Clara Butt.Suddenly on goes a 78 by a new American band who the audience think is going to be some brass band playing a March.
The needle hits the record and the Sound of Hell opens up!!!
Yes it was Livery Stable Blues complete with farmyard impressions and what to the audience sounded like hideously discordant music or maybe the phonograph had broken down!

Shortly after the ODJB appeared in England to support a comedian called George Robey who is alleged to have said "either they go or I go"!

After this event though the floodgates opened and a mighty lot of black jazz appeared from the likes of Louis Armstrong and Jelly Roll Morton.

The ODJB had begun a tradition which still exists:the way the white man takes black music and is more succesful with it.
There was though a long way to go-jazz had to be watered down in order to become commercial and acceptable and again it was white men who did it-Benny Goodman had actually purchased arrangements from some black musician and launched his own career.However Goodman was the first to employ blacks in his bands eg Lionel Hampton

The ODJB music was still hard going for some in the 60s when the first reissues began because acoustic recordings were alien.However the band had recorded electrically in the 30s.
These recordings are now Historic-the first jazz records. And being transferred onto CD with extra tracks stresses just how important when all musics are acceptable to people.
Yet the first ODJB things could still clear the supermarket!

LIKE BRITISH TRAD JAZZ? THEN BUY THIS!!, 18 Nov 2008
20 toe-tapping tracks for only £2.98! You can't go wrong and will enjoy the best it can get!!
All the great jazz classics are on here including THE haunting "Petite Fleur" with Monty Sunshine, along with some cracking live tracks AND 6 numbers featuring the fabulous voice of Ottilie Patterson.
If "April Showers" alone doesn't get your feet a jiggin' then you must be a piece of wood........man!
There's not one bad track on this album, which all come from the mid to late 1950's and it finishes with a rousing last track of a live version of "You Rascal You"; so buy it NOW Daddio and get in the groove!



A great souvenir of a British jazz legend, 16 Aug 2007
Since George Melly died earler this year, I have tried to buy up some of the recordings that made him famous and brought back memories of the two occasions when I was lucky enough to see him perform live. Of all the available albums, this one may not have the most recognisable standards (though Frankie and Johnny are present and correct) but it perhaps sums 'Goodtime George' up best - the title really does say it all.

Even the more bluesy numbers feel quite swinging and up-tempo (check out Send Me to the 'Lectric Chair) and fun numbers like Mississippi Mud and Abdul Abulbul Amir - not one you could get away with singing these days, I should think! - transport you to a night at Ronnie Scott's just before Christmas, the booze flowing freely, cigarette smoking still permitted.

Good on you, George - you'll be sorely missed!

Melly at his best, 05 Jul 2007
These are early mono recordings when George's voice was at its most powerful. The honest interpretation & the depth of soul & emotion and that come out from these songs tell me that he was one of the best jazz singers ever, on any side of the Atlantic.

Very early work, 08 Apr 2005
This cd is an album of VERY early work - 1950's to 1970's.

George Melly's voice and delivery is very little like the relaxed, lived-in style of later, possibly better known years.

Personally, I found it interesting but ultimately disappointing.

George Melly at his very best., 14 Oct 2001
This CD is the best compilation I have come across of George's early work. From the lively rendition of Black Bottom to the dryly humerous Grandmothers Old Arm Chair, this album is upbeat throughout, you can't help but sing and dance along.

Marvellous Melly, 29 Aug 2008
Melly croons his way through over a dozen well-known and lesser known songs with his jazz chums on this very fine record. His version of 'September Song' starts off bizarrely and then settles down while 'Anything Goes' and all the others are beautifully performed. He sings well, the musicians are all excellent and the production outstanding. This is real swinging stuff.

Jackman the Shining Star, 23 Feb 2004
I heartily agree this CD would be best enjoyed if the show had been seen in person. This review, though, is based off the CD alone.

Pro: Following the life of Peter Allan, the Boy From Oz is an undeniably enthusiastic rendering of his life, using songs Allan wrote.
Con: This enthusiasm, however, does sometimes bleed over into happy "cheese." Many people have never heard of Peter Allan until now, and his music does have a somewhat dated sound (70s).

Note: If you don't like Liza Minnelli's voice in real life, you won't like how she's rendered here - it's pretty good! The same goes for the style. The Boy from Oz might be a bit like "Hair" - you either love it or hate it.

Pro: His music was meant to be performed from the get-go, few songs have been converted to the stage.
Con: The CD doesn't do a great job of conveying the character nuances you'd get from seeing a live performance.

Pro: Here Jackman proves his roots as a song and dance man. The Bonus Track "Tenterfield Saddler" (was it cut?) is probably the best as it really shows off Jackman's voice. Jarrod Emick as 'Greg' in "I Honestly Love You" is also talented.

Con: The majority of the show is so 'full on' that the other singers seem to go flat/sharp more often that they should on a professional recording. (In particular, 'Don't Cry Out Loud' is a bit soured because the actress goes sharp a number of times.)

Pro: The show matures as you listen. I tend to think Act II is much better than Act I.

Nitpick: I don't think the CD is that well produced, found a typo, and in 2 songs when 'Minnelli' is singing the sound goes a bit loud/fuzzy as if she's standing too close to the recording microphone. This should have been fixed! (I've checked, it's not my speakers). The pictures are great, however!

So why 4 stars?
Though I've highlighted a few 'cons', I think they generally balance out with the 'pros.' In the end you get a pretty good, busy CD with a lot a decent vocal talent. Jackman and a few others shine above the rest. I don't think it will be remembered forever, but it's not a bad addition to the musical genre.

Magic Moments in the Theatre, 21 Dec 2003
You have to have seen the show to put this cast recording into the full emotional context of how Peter Allen's life and music have been portrayed on stage! Hugh Jackman's highly acclaimed performance ( conceded now as frontrunning for the 2003 Tony awards) brings to life the story of Peter - and he does it with great acting, appealing singing, solid dancing skills, and sheer charisma. His rapport and engaging manner with the audience wins him fans, from the show's critics and audience alike.

The songs in the album are presented in the context of the rewritten book of the musical, brought to life by wonderful emotive and vocal performances by Hugh and his amazing supporting cast. He brings such tenderness to the bonus track Tenterfield Saddler ( cut from the show but for good reasons), brings the audience to an emotional high with Once Before I Go ( often ended by a rare standing ovation before the end of a show), delights with the joyous or poignant displays in his duets with Judy, Liza, and Greg. His I Go to Rio is such an awesome spectacle you feel like doing the latin dance it evokes. Sadly, the BI-COASTAL number on the disc does not include the now famous audience interaction scenes which have become one the show's most enjoyable moments. Neither does the album fully capture the joyous spirit of Not The Boy Next Door and Everything Old Is New Again. But that is not the fault of this well-conceived album - you simply have to view the performance to capture the visual and vocal appeal of the musical score and its settings... Stephanie Block also delivers impressively in her numbers and Jarrod Emick imbues I Honestly Love You with such honest emotions...But my favourite song is turning out to be ALL THE LIVES OF ME - sung by Hugh with such a wry and poignant expression, one can almost feel the regrets and the joys which marked the life of Peter Allen.

Get the cast album - even better, save like mad and go to New York for that evening of pure entertainment. I have done it - no less than 6 times!

Many facets of Early Chris Barber from the Pye-Nixa Vaults, 16 Feb 2001
Castle have again raided the Pye Nixa vaults for their latest Chris Barber retrespective.

There are concert recordings from 1956 and 1958; and studio tracks from the same period.

For the first time Castle have included 2 Skiffle numbers with Dickie Bishop and Johnny Duncan; and many with the Band's Blues Singer Ottilie Patterson; and one track with American Blues men Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee.

The records show the Band's full repetoire, and is excellent value with 38 tracks.

Castle Still have more tracks from Pye Nixa as yet unisssued, so there should be more to come!

A voice in a Million!, 30 Jan 2008
Oh what joy to have discovered again the very special talent of Ottilie! As a teenager I went to listen to her in London with The Chris Barber Band - at the time I realised what an amazing voice and talent I was listening to but only later did I realise just how good. High up there with the greats of jazz singers, and certainly with a strong hint of Bessie Smith. ENJOY!

Memories re - visited, 07 Oct 2003
I was approximately 11 years old when I first heard most of the tracks on this album. I am now 56 so I thought the re-visit would be clouded by nostalgia. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the music would stand against any contemporary in the same field. New listeners will find that the voice of Ottilie Patterson has a mature and soulful quality not matched by many. An excellent album, I only wish there was more.

Kenny Ball? What does he call the other one?, 19 Aug 2006
Some of the tunes on this are nearly fifty years old and they are still swinging. Wow, he may not be considered the coolest artist on the planet...but Kenny's got Balls!!!!!

Have a ball with Kenny, 28 Nov 2003
Kenny Ball, along with his mates and rivals Acker Bilk and Chris Barber, brought trad jazz to the British public conscience in the 1960s. Kenny's forte was to give the treatment, with tongue firmly in cheek (difficult when playing the trumpet!), to all sorts of popular songs of the time. Nothing was sacred - Cole Porter, Mozart, The Beatles, Walt Disney - and as a consequence his band was a regular in the Top 20 charts.

This collection contains all the hits, all original recordings and sounding amazingly sprightly for their age. The music has no pretentions, just to have fun and sound good - you may find yourself whistling or singing along to some of them.

Ahead of its time, 19 Nov 2006
I've often wondered just what it must have sounded like the day the ODJB was first heard in England.Imagine the genteel drawing room with its Victrola for playing the new fangled 78s of ballad singers like John McCormack,Peter Dawson or Dame Clara Butt.Suddenly on goes a 78 by a new American band who the audience think is going to be some brass band playing a March.
The needle hits the record and the Sound of Hell opens up!!!
Yes it was Livery Stable Blues complete with farmyard impressions and what to the audience sounded like hideously discordant music or maybe the phonograph had broken down!

Shortly after the ODJB appeared in England to support a comedian called George Robey who is alleged to have said "either they go or I go"!

After this event though the floodgates opened and a mighty lot of black jazz appeared from the likes of Louis Armstrong and Jelly Roll Morton.

The ODJB had begun a tradition which still exists:the way the white man takes black music and is more succesful with it.
There was though a long way to go-jazz had to be watered down in order to become commercial and acceptable and again it was white men who did it-Benny Goodman had actually purchased arrangements from some black musician and launched his own career.However Goodman was the first to employ blacks in his bands eg Lionel Hampton

The ODJB music was still hard going for some in the 60s when the first reissues began because acoustic recordings were alien.However the band had recorded electrically in the 30s.
These recordings are now Historic-the first jazz records. And being transferred onto CD with extra tracks stresses just how important when all musics are acceptable to people.
Yet the first ODJB things could still clear the supermarket!

LIKE BRITISH TRAD JAZZ? THEN BUY THIS!!, 18 Nov 2008
20 toe-tapping tracks for only £2.98! You can't go wrong and will enjoy the best it can get!!
All the great jazz classics are on here including THE haunting "Petite Fleur" with Monty Sunshine, along with some cracking live tracks AND 6 numbers featuring the fabulous voice of Ottilie Patterson.
If "April Showers" alone doesn't get your feet a jiggin' then you must be a piece of wood........man!
There's not one bad track on this album, which all come from the mid to late 1950's and it finishes with a rousing last track of a live version of "You Rascal You"; so buy it NOW Daddio and get in the groove!



A great souvenir of a British jazz legend, 16 Aug 2007
Since George Melly died earler this year, I have tried to buy up some of the recordings that made him famous and brought back memories of the two occasions when I was lucky enough to see him perform live. Of all the available albums, this one may not have the most recognisable standards (though Frankie and Johnny are present and correct) but it perhaps sums 'Goodtime George' up best - the title really does say it all.

Even the more bluesy numbers feel quite swinging and up-tempo (check out Send Me to the 'Lectric Chair) and fun numbers like Mississippi Mud and Abdul Abulbul Amir - not one you could get away with singing these days, I should think! - transport you to a night at Ronnie Scott's just before Christmas, the booze flowing freely, cigarette smoking still permitted.

Good on you, George - you'll be sorely missed!

Melly at his best, 05 Jul 2007
These are early mono recordings when George's voice was at its most powerful. The honest interpretation & the depth of soul & emotion and that come out from these songs tell me that he was one of the best jazz singers ever, on any side of the Atlantic.

Very early work, 08 Apr 2005
This cd is an album of VERY early work - 1950's to 1970's.

George Melly's voice and delivery is very little like the relaxed, lived-in style of later, possibly better known years.

Personally, I found it interesting but ultimately disappointing.

George Melly at his very best., 14 Oct 2001
This CD is the best compilation I have come across of George's early work. From the lively rendition of Black Bottom to the dryly humerous Grandmothers Old Arm Chair, this album is upbeat throughout, you can't help but sing and dance along.

Marvellous Melly, 29 Aug 2008
Melly croons his way through over a dozen well-known and lesser known songs with his jazz chums on this very fine record. His version of 'September Song' starts off bizarrely and then settles down while 'Anything Goes' and all the others are beautifully performed. He sings well, the musicians are all excellent and the production outstanding. This is real swinging stuff.

Jackman the Shining Star, 23 Feb 2004
I heartily agree this CD would be best enjoyed if the show had been seen in person. This review, though, is based off the CD alone.

Pro: Following the life of Peter Allan, the Boy From Oz is an undeniably enthusiastic rendering of his life, using songs Allan wrote.
Con: This enthusiasm, however, does sometimes bleed over into happy "cheese." Many people have never heard of Peter Allan until now, and his music does have a somewhat dated sound (70s).

Note: If you don't like Liza Minnelli's voice in real life, you won't like how she's rendered here - it's pretty good! The same goes for the style. The Boy from Oz might be a bit like "Hair" - you either love it or hate it.

Pro: His music was meant to be performed from the get-go, few songs have been converted to the stage.
Con: The CD doesn't do a great job of conveying the character nuances you'd get from seeing a live performance.

Pro: Here Jackman proves his roots as a song and dance man. The Bonus Track "Tenterfield Saddler" (was it cut?) is probably the best as it really shows off Jackman's voice. Jarrod Emick as 'Greg' in "I Honestly Love You" is also talented.

Con: The majority of the show is so 'full on' that the other singers seem to go flat/sharp more often that they should on a professional recording. (In particular, 'Don't Cry Out Loud' is a bit soured because the actress goes sharp a number of times.)

Pro: The show matures as you listen. I tend to think Act II is much better than Act I.

Nitpick: I don't think the CD is that well produced, found a typo, and in 2 songs when 'Minnelli' is singing the sound goes a bit loud/fuzzy as if she's standing too close to the recording microphone. This should have been fixed! (I've checked, it's not my speakers). The pictures are great, however!

So why 4 stars?
Though I've highlighted a few 'cons', I think they generally balance out with the 'pros.' In the end you get a pretty good, busy CD with a lot a decent vocal talent. Jackman and a few others shine above the rest. I don't think it will be remembered forever, but it's not a bad addition to the musical genre.

Magic Moments in the Theatre, 21 Dec 2003
You have to have seen the show to put this cast recording into the full emotional context of how Peter Allen's life and music have been portrayed on stage! Hugh Jackman's highly acclaimed performance ( conceded now as frontrunning for the 2003 Tony awards) brings to life the story of Peter - and he does it with great acting, appealing singing, solid dancing skills, and sheer charisma. His rapport and engaging manner with the audience wins him fans, from the show's critics and audience alike.

The songs in the album are presented in the context of the rewritten book of the musical, brought to life by wonderful emotive and vocal performances by Hugh and his amazing supporting cast. He brings such tenderness to the bonus track Tenterfield Saddler ( cut from the show but for good reasons), brings the audience to an emotional high with Once Before I Go ( often ended by a rare standing ovation before the end of a show), delights with the joyous or poignant displays in his duets with Judy, Liza, and Greg. His I Go to Rio is such an awesome spectacle you feel like doing the latin dance it evokes. Sadly, the BI-COASTAL number on the disc does not include the now famous audience interaction scenes which have become one the show's most enjoyable moments. Neither does the album fully capture the joyous spirit of Not The Boy Next Door and Everything Old Is New Again. But that is not the fault of this well-conceived album - you simply have to view the performance to capture the visual and vocal appeal of the musical score and its settings... Stephanie Block also delivers impressively in her numbers and Jarrod Emick imbues I Honestly Love You with such honest emotions...But my favourite song is turning out to be ALL THE LIVES OF ME - sung by Hugh with such a wry and poignant expression, one can almost feel the regrets and the joys which marked the life of Peter Allen.

Get the cast album - even better, save like mad and go to New York for that evening of pure entertainment. I have done it - no less than 6 times!

Many facets of Early Chris Barber from the Pye-Nixa Vaults, 16 Feb 2001
Castle have again raided the Pye Nixa vaults for their latest Chris Barber retrespective.

There are concert recordings from 1956 and 1958; and studio tracks from the same period.

For the first time Castle have included 2 Skiffle numbers with Dickie Bishop and Johnny Duncan; and many with the Band's Blues Singer Ottilie Patterson; and one track with American Blues men Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee.

The records show the Band's full repetoire, and is excellent value with 38 tracks.

Castle Still have more tracks from Pye Nixa as yet unisssued, so there should be more to come!

A fine 'Mass' and a disappointing 'Shadows', 14 Sep 2006
I bought this CD after being impressed by the Naxos disc of `John Rutter's Requiem. That was something of a revelation, and probably the strongest recording of that work available. This disc is far less impressive.

The Mass of the Children is a fine work. As when recording the Requiem, this Naxos version uses the chamber ensemble version of the work rather than the full orchestral version. As with the Requiem the performance is top notch, both musicians and voices. No one should expect a piece called `Mass of the Children' to be as deep or searching as a Requiem and this is indeed a lighter work. John Rutter was inspired by his experience of singing in Benjamin Britten's War requiem in 1963, but it is a lighter side of Britten's choral writing that inspires him here. The singing is perhaps nearest to Britten's `Ceremony of Carols'. If I had to sum up the style of this work in one phrase it would be `Britten goes to Broadway'. There are some lovely tunes here, starting with the opening Kyrie; the most beautiful melody is saved for the Sanctus and Benedictus, where the tune harks back to the instrumental writing of Bach and Handel. The reduced chamber ensemble accompaniment sounds ideal.

So, having praised the Mass for Children, where is the disappointment? The answer is - in Shadows, the Song Cycle for baritone and guitar which takes up 25 minutes of this disc. It is intended as a homage to 16th century Lute Songs. The opening song Shadows highlights what is wrong here. The guitar accompaniment sounds like 1960's acoustic art rock and simply doesn't go together with the full on classical singing style of Jeremy Huw Williams. As the cycle unfolds another weakness becomes apparent. William's voice if full of life, but Stewart French appears to be sleepwalking through the guitar part.

The quality control returns for the final track `Wedding Canticle' featuring a haunting dreamlike flute and guitar accompaniment. Here the still day dreaming guitarist is in his element.

So. Four Stars for Mass of the children. Two Stars for Shadows and Five stars for Wedding Canticle. I am giving this disc 3 stars overall.


The Chamber Orchestra Version of Rutter's 'Mass of the Children', 15 May 2006
It is fashionable in some circles to deride the music of John Rutter because of its strong popular appeal, and indeed it may be true that Rutter is the John Stainer of our era. That is, his music is simple enough to be taken up by amateur groups, church and lay alike, and is enjoyed by many although it possibly will not be remembered by posterity. Somewhere I saw Rutter compared with Andrew Lloyd Webber, but that's a specious notion; Rutter is much more skilled than Webber, regardless of the man-on-the-street popularity of the latter. Rutter is a very careful and meticulous writer with to the ability to write tunes that become veritable 'ear-worms.'

The major piece on this CD is the 'Mass of the Children,' written in 2002. Although recorded before, this is the first recording using the version for chamber orchestra and organ along with mixed choir, children's choir, and soprano and baritone soloists. Rutter conducts forces from Clare College, Cambridge, his alma mater, and gets a marvelously focused and precise performance. He also conducted the earlier CD using full orchestra, which I have not heard. He says he was stimulated to write this piece by the strong memories he retained from singing in a children's choir in the first recording of Britten's 'War Requiem' which uses the same forces. Indeed, the first few minutes of the piece, the Kyrie, sounds for all the world like it could have been written by Britten. Indeed, throughout the 'Mass' (particularly the 'Gloria') one hears echoes of Britten's modal triad-based harmonies; of course the sound of children's chorus singing English words also reminds one of Britten as he wrote so much for trebles in his long career. Early on in his career, Rutter was heavily identified with the Faure Requiem and one hears similarities to that work. Still, this is indubitably Rutter through and through. And for those who love his music, this recording (or the version with full orchestra on Collegium) is a must-have.

The disc is filled out by a charming 1979 song cycle for baritone and guitar called 'Shadows.' It is sung idiomatically and lovingly by Jeremy Huw Williams accompanied by a recent Clare graduate, guitarist Stewart French. The eight songs, all evoking images of the evanescence of life, are set to English poems from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The most familiar text is probably Herrick's 'Gather ye rosebuds while ye may.' Full texts are provided in the booklet, but Williams's diction makes referring to them virtually unnecessary.

The six-minute-long 'Wedding Canticle' for mixed choir, flute and guitar is set to Psalm 128 -- 'Blessed are they that fear the Lord and walk in his ways...' -- a text used in the Anglican wedding ceremony. Flutist Daniel Pailthorpe joins guitarist French, weaving filigree in and around the simple, gentle choral sound.

Not enough can be said for the Clare College Choir and the Farnham Youth Choir. Their contribution is impeccably tuned, musically shaped and entirely engaging.

Scott Morrison

Mass of the Children - Divine!, 05 Apr 2006
What can I say to do this recording justice? The two choirs (Farnham Youth Choir & Clare College, Cambridge) are just outstanding.

The music is right for any mood, and is suitably 'accessible' if you're not really sure about classical music. If you happen to be an expert on everything from Albinoni to Wagner then you will definately appreciate the qaulity of this work.

Happy listening.

A voice in a Million!, 30 Jan 2008
Oh what joy to have discovered again the very special talent of Ottilie! As a teenager I went to listen to her in London with The Chris Barber Band - at the time I realised what an amazing voice and talent I was listening to but only later did I realise just how good. High up there with the greats of jazz singers, and certainly with a strong hint of Bessie Smith. ENJOY!

Memories re - visited, 07 Oct 2003
I was approximately 11 years old when I first heard most of the tracks on this album. I am now 56 so I thought the re-visit would be clouded by nostalgia. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the music would stand against any contemporary in the same field. New listeners will find that the voice of Ottilie Patterson has a mature and soulful quality not matched by many. An excellent album, I only wish there was more.

Kenny Ball? What does he call the other one?, 19 Aug 2006
Some of the tunes on this are nearly fifty years old and they are still swinging. Wow, he may not be considered the coolest artist on the planet...but Kenny's got Balls!!!!!

Have a ball with Kenny, 28 Nov 2003
Kenny Ball, along with his mates and rivals Acker Bilk and Chris Barber, brought trad jazz to the British public conscience in the 1960s. Kenny's forte was to give the treatment, with tongue firmly in cheek (difficult when playing the trumpet!), to all sorts of popular songs of the time. Nothing was sacred - Cole Porter, Mozart, The Beatles, Walt Disney - and as a consequence his band was a regular in the Top 20 charts.

This collection contains all the hits, all original recordings and sounding amazingly sprightly for their age. The music has no pretentions, just to have fun and sound good - you may find yourself whistling or singing along to some of them.

Ahead of its time, 19 Nov 2006
I've often wondered just what it must have sounded like the day the ODJB was first heard in England.Imagine the genteel drawing room with its Victrola for playing the new fangled 78s of ballad singers like John McCormack,Peter Dawson or Dame Clara Butt.Suddenly on goes a 78 by a new American band who the audience think is going to be some brass band playing a March.
The needle hits the record and the Sound of Hell opens up!!!
Yes it was Livery Stable Blues complete with farmyard impressions and what to the audience sounded like hideously discordant music or maybe the phonograph had broken down!

Shortly after the ODJB appeared in England to support a comedian called George Robey who is alleged to have said "either they go or I go"!

After this event though the floodgates opened and a mighty lot of black jazz appeared from the likes of Louis Armstrong and Jelly Roll Morton.

The ODJB had begun a tradition which still exists:the way the white man takes black music and is more succesful with it.
There was though a long way to go-jazz had to be watered down in order to become commercial and acceptable and again it was white men who did it-Benny Goodman had actually purchased arrangements from some black musician and launched his own career.However Goodman was the first to employ blacks in his bands eg Lionel Hampton

The ODJB music was still hard going for some in the 60s when the first reissues began because acoustic recordings were alien.However the band had recorded electrically in the 30s.
These recordings are now Historic-the first jazz records. And being transferred onto CD with extra tracks stresses just how important when all musics are acceptable to people.
Yet the first ODJB things could still clear the supermarket!

LIKE BRITISH TRAD JAZZ? THEN BUY THIS!!, 18 Nov 2008
20 toe-tapping tracks for only £2.98! You can't go wrong and will enjoy the best it can get!!
All the great jazz classics are on here including THE haunting "Petite Fleur" with Monty Sunshine, along with some cracking live tracks AND 6 numbers featuring the fabulous voice of Ottilie Patterson.
If "April Showers" alone doesn't get your feet a jiggin' then you must be a piece of wood........man!
There's not one bad track on this album, which all come from the mid to late 1950's and it finishes with a rousing last track of a live version of "You Rascal You"; so buy it NOW Daddio and get in the groove!



A great souvenir of a British jazz legend, 16 Aug 2007
Since George Melly died earler this year, I have tried to buy up some of the recordings that made him famous and brought back memories of the two occasions when I was lucky enough to see him perform live. Of all the available albums, this one may not have the most recognisable standards (though Frankie and Johnny are present and correct) but it perhaps sums 'Goodtime George' up best - the title really does say it all.

Even the more bluesy numbers feel quite swinging and up-tempo (check out Send Me to the 'Lectric Chair) and fun numbers like Mississippi Mud and Abdul Abulbul Amir - not one you could get away with singing these days, I should think! - transport you to a night at Ronnie Scott's just before Christmas, the booze flowing freely, cigarette smoking still permitted.

Good on you, George - you'll be sorely missed!

Melly at his best, 05 Jul 2007
These are early mono recordings when George's voice was at its most powerful. The honest interpretation & the depth of soul & emotion and that come out from these songs tell me that he was one of the best jazz singers ever, on any side of the Atlantic.

Very early work, 08 Apr 2005
This cd is an album of VERY early work - 1950's to 1970's.

George Melly's voice and delivery is very little like the relaxed, lived-in style of later, possibly better known years.

Personally, I found it interesting but ultimately disappointing.

George Melly at his very best., 14 Oct 2001
This CD is the best compilation I have come across of George's early work. From the lively rendition of Black Bottom to the dryly humerous Grandmothers Old Arm Chair, this album is upbeat throughout, you can't help but sing and dance along.

Marvellous Melly, 29 Aug 2008
Melly croons his way through over a dozen well-known and lesser known songs with his jazz chums on this very fine record. His version of 'September Song' starts off bizarrely and then settles down while 'Anything Goes' and all the others are beautifully performed. He sings well, the musicians are all excellent and the production outstanding. This is real swinging stuff.

Jackman the Shining Star, 23 Feb 2004
I heartily agree this CD would be best enjoyed if the show had been seen in person. This review, though, is based off the CD alone.

Pro: Following the life of Peter Allan, the Boy From Oz is an undeniably enthusiastic rendering of his life, using songs Allan wrote.
Con: This enthusiasm, however, does sometimes bleed over into happy "cheese." Many people have never heard of Peter Allan until now, and his music does have a somewhat dated sound (70s).

Note: If you don't like Liza Minnelli's voice in real life, you won't like how she's rendered here - it's pretty good! The same goes for the style. The Boy from Oz might be a bit like "Hair" - you either love it or hate it.

Pro: His music was meant to be performed from the get-go, few songs have been converted to the stage.
Con: The CD doesn't do a great job of conveying the character nuances you'd get from seeing a live performance.

Pro: Here Jackman proves his roots as a song and dance man. The Bonus Track "Tenterfield Saddler" (was it cut?) is probably the best as it really shows off Jackman's voice. Jarrod Emick as 'Greg' in "I Honestly Love You" is also talented.

Con: The majority of the show is so 'full on' that the other singers seem to go flat/sharp more often that they should on a professional recording. (In particular, 'Don't Cry Out Loud' is a bit soured because the actress goes sharp a number of times.)

Pro: The show matures as you listen. I tend to think Act II is much better than Act I.

Nitpick: I don't think the CD is that well produced, found a typo, and in 2 songs when 'Minnelli' is singing the sound goes a bit loud/fuzzy as if she's standing too close to the recording microphone. This should have been fixed! (I've checked, it's not my speakers). The pictures are great, however!

So why 4 stars?
Though I've highlighted a few 'cons', I think they generally balance out with the 'pros.' In the end you get a pretty good, busy CD with a lot a decent vocal talent. Jackman and a few others shine above the rest. I don't think it will be remembered forever, but it's not a bad addition to the musical genre.

Magic Moments in the Theatre, 21 Dec 2003
You have to have seen the show to put this cast recording into the full emotional context of how Peter Allen's life and music have been portrayed on stage! Hugh Jackman's highly acclaimed performance ( conceded now as frontrunning for the 2003 Tony awards) brings to life the story of Peter - and he does it with great acting, appealing singing, solid dancing skills, and sheer charisma. His rapport and engaging manner with the audience wins him fans, from the show's critics and audience alike.

The songs in the album are presented in the context of the rewritten book of the musical, brought to life by wonderful emotive and vocal performances by Hugh and his amazing supporting cast. He brings such tenderness to the bonus track Tenterfield Saddler ( cut from the show but for good reasons), brings the audience to an emotional high with Once Before I Go ( often ended by a rare standing ovation before the end of a show), delights with the joyous or poignant displays in his duets with Judy, Liza, and Greg. His I Go to Rio is such an awesome spectacle you feel like doing the latin dance it evokes. Sadly, the BI-COASTAL number on the disc does not include the now famous audience interaction scenes which have become one the show's most enjoyable moments. Neither does the album fully capture the joyous spirit of Not The Boy Next Door and Everything Old Is New Again. But that is not the fault of this well-conceived album - you simply have to view the performance to capture the visual and vocal appeal of the musical score and its settings... Stephanie Block also delivers impressively in her numbers and Jarrod Emick imbues I Honestly Love You with such honest emotions...But my favourite song is turning out to be ALL THE LIVES OF ME - sung by Hugh with such a wry and poignant expression, one can almost feel the regrets and the joys which marked the life of Peter Allen.

Get the cast album - even better, save like mad and go to New York for that evening of pure entertainment. I have done it - no less than 6 times!

Many facets of Early Chris Barber from the Pye-Nixa Vaults, 16 Feb 2001
Castle have again raided the Pye Nixa vaults for their latest Chris Barber retrespective.

There are concert recordings from 1956 and 1958; and studio tracks from the same period.

For the first time Castle have included 2 Skiffle numbers with Dickie Bishop and Johnny Duncan; and many with the Band's Blues Singer Ottilie Patterson; and one track with American Blues men Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee.

The records show the Band's full repetoire, and is excellent value with 38 tracks.

Castle Still have more tracks from Pye Nixa as yet unisssued, so there should be more to come!

A fine 'Mass' and a disappointing 'Shadows', 14 Sep 2006
I bought this CD after being impressed by the Naxos disc of `John Rutter's Requiem. That was something of a revelation, and probably the strongest recording of that work available. This disc is far less impressive.

The Mass of the Children is a fine work. As when recording the Requiem, this Naxos version uses the chamber ensemble version of the work rather than the full orchestral version. As with the Requiem the performance is top notch, both musicians and voices. No one should expect a piece called `Mass of the Children' to be as deep or searching as a Requiem and this is indeed a lighter work. John Rutter was inspired by his experience of singing in Benjamin Britten's War requiem in 1963, but it is a lighter side of Britten's choral writing that inspires him here. The singing is perhaps nearest to Britten's `Ceremony of Carols'. If I had to sum up the style of this work in one phrase it would be `Britten goes to Broadway'. There are some lovely tunes here, starting with the opening Kyrie; the most beautiful melody is saved for the Sanctus and Benedictus, where the tune harks back to the instrumental writing of Bach and Handel. The reduced chamber ensemble accompaniment sounds ideal.

So, having praised the Mass for Children, where is the disappointment? The answer is - in Shadows, the Song Cycle for baritone and guitar which takes up 25 minutes of this disc. It is intended as a homage to 16th century Lute Songs. The opening song Shadows highlights what is wrong here. The guitar accompaniment sounds like 1960's acoustic art rock and simply doesn't go together with the full on classical singing style of Jeremy Huw Williams. As the cycle unfolds another weakness becomes apparent. William's voice if full of life, but Stewart French appears to be sleepwalking through the guitar part.

The quality control returns for the final track `Wedding Canticle' featuring a haunting dreamlike flute and guitar accompaniment. Here the still day dreaming guitarist is in his element.

So. Four Stars for Mass of the children. Two Stars for Shadows and Five stars for Wedding Canticle. I am giving this disc 3 stars overall.


The Chamber Orchestra Version of Rutter's 'Mass of the Children', 15 May 2006
It is fashionable in some circles to deride the music of John Rutter because of its strong popular appeal, and indeed it may be true that Rutter is the John Stainer of our era. That is, his music is simple enough to be taken up by amateur groups, church and lay alike, and is enjoyed by many although it possibly will not be remembered by posterity. Somewhere I saw Rutter compared with Andrew Lloyd Webber, but that's a specious notion; Rutter is much more skilled than Webber, regardless of the man-on-the-street popularity of the latter. Rutter is a very careful and meticulous writer with to the ability to write tunes that become veritable 'ear-worms.'

The major piece on this CD is the 'Mass of the Children,' written in 2002. Although recorded before, this is the first recording using the version for chamber orchestra and organ along with mixed choir, children's choir, and soprano and baritone soloists. Rutter conducts for