Alone with My Dreams
CD Rivermont BSW-1169
This is a rather recent CD production. It’s well produced and comes with a booklet full of well researched and interesting information that let’s you know all you need (and more!) about the protagonist Tom Cline and about the tunes. Cline belonged to a circle of persons leading orchestras and managing fancy hotel engagements in New York around 1930. Bert Lown and Rudy Vallée were other participants and collaborators until a schism and a following lawsuit divided the two.
For me Tom Clines recorded output is mellow and pleasant music thanks to the unusual orchestra line-up on. The arrangements are of the usual high standard that we expect from a recorded dance orchestra but the special thing is that there are no brass section.
The saxophones and strings caresses your eardrums and furthermore there are vocals from a crooner called Jack Carney.
It’s straight dance music with no jazz pretentions, and if it slips into the background while I’m browsing through the morning paper, it keeps me in a good mood also thanks to the fine melodies. Then suddenly at the ninth tune there is a familiar ”voice” that makes me wake up. Adrian Rollini with his swinging, bouncing bass sax has joined the band in the studio after returning from Europe. From then on you get the spice of a little bit of jazz, though far from the important input in his earlier work with California Ramblers and associated groups, still worth half the price of the record.
I don’t think that this music ever was released on an LP and the 78’s may be hard to come by so the music on this CD was new to me.