Virginia
LP EMI Retrospect Series SHB 45
In the shadow of his evergreen masterpieces, George Gershwin wrote many songs, and it’s not until I reach the last side of the double LP that I manage to sing along with familiar strains.
You can wonder why some tunes became jazz standards while some did not make big enough success to have a future as to become part of the “American Song Book.”
This is certainly not a jazz record but a very straight reading of an arrangement (and so are also all the other 24 numbers of the album).
But I enjoy it because the English “Midnight Follies” orchestra plays with involvement and great precision, and the melody is well exposed. Further, the 1924 recording is well balanced, and I especially like the sound of the cymbal and the slap-tongued baritone sax.