Lyle Ritz Plays Jazz Ukulele (2 LP on 1 CD)
  • Verve MG VS-2087
    Verve MG VS-2087
  • Verve MG VS-8333
    Verve MG VS-8333

Lyle Ritz

Lyle Ritz Plays Jazz Ukulele (2 LP on 1 CD)

Fresh Sound Records

Personnel:
Lyle Ritz (ukulele), Bernie Fleischer, Don Shelton, Gene Cipriano, Paul Horn, John Bambridge Jr. (reeds), Joe Mondragon, Red Mitchell (b), Frank Capp, Larry Bunker (d), Gene Estes (vib, marimba, d)

Reference: FSRCD 810

Bar code: 8427328608107

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As a highly regarded studio bassist in Los Angeles in the 1960s and 1970s, Lyle Ritz (born 1930) could hardly have imagined the impact of a few earlier recordings he had done using a considerably smaller four-string instrument. His two ukulele jazz recordings on the Verve label in the late 1950s, How About Uke? and 50th State Jazz, were unlike anything previously recorded.

Ritz will always be known as the brilliant pioneer in the area of ukulele jazz. His recordings are legendary and have inspired countless players both in Hawaii and on the mainland, including such names as Peter Moon, Roy Sakuma, and Moe Keale. Ritz returned to his ukulele roots in the mid 1980s, releasing a number of more recent recordings as well as an instructional book of his arrangements.



01. Dont Get Around Much Anymore (Ellington-Russell) 3:15
02. Have You Met Miss Jones (Rodgers-Hart) 3:02
03. Little Girl Blue (Rodgers-Hart) 2:52
04. Solamente una vez (You Belong to My Heart) (Lara-Gilbert) 2:51
05. Moonlight in Vermont (Suessdorf-Blackburn) 3:44
06. Ritz Cracker (Ritz) 2:12
07. Lulus Back in Town (Warren-Dubin) 3:23
08. Playmates (Dowell) 2:33
09. Im Beginning to See the Light (James-Ellington-Hodges-George) 2:53
10. How About You? (Laine-Freed) 2:49
11. Sunday (Conn-Miller-Krueger-Styne) 2:08
12. Tangerine (Mercer-Schertzinger) 3:24
13. Sweet Joan (Ritz) 2:29
14. Leis of Jazz (Conrad) 2:48
15. Rose Room (Hickman-Williams) 4:06
16. Polka Dots and Moonbeams (Burke-Van Heusen) 3:33
17. Blue Hawaii (Robin-Rainger) 2:32
18. Clean from Porterville (Ritz) 2:38
19. The Song Is You (Kern-Hammerstein II) 3:32
20. Perjazz (Ritz) 2:49
21. Hana Maui (Darby-Wright) 2:47
22. Blue Lou (Sampson-Mills) 2:53
23. Skylark (Carmichael-Mercer) 3:20
24. On the Beach at Waikiki (Stover-Kailimai; P.D.) 2:42
25. Pick-A-Lili (Botkin) 2:26

Album details

Sources:
Tracks #1-13, from the album "How About Uke" (Verve MG VS-2087)
Tracks #14-25, from the album "50th State Jazz" (Verve MG VS-8333)

Personnel on "How About Uke":
Don Shelton (fl), Lyle Ritz (ukulele), Red Mitchell (b), Gene Estes (d).
Recorded at Radio Recorders, Hollywood, September 18, 28, and October 1, 1957

Personnel on "50th State Jazz":
Bernie Fleischer (cl, fl, as, ss); Don Shelton (cl, fl, ts, ss); Gene Cipriano (Egh, fl, ts, ss); Paul Horn (cl, fl, ts); John Bambridge Jr. (bcl, ts, ss); Lyle Ritz (ukulele); Joe Mondragon, Red Mitchell (b); Jerry Williams, Frank Capp, Larry Bunker (d); Gene Estes (vibes, marimba).
Recorded at Radio Recorders, Hollywood, April 15, 16 & 21, 1959

Recording engineer: Alan Emig
Original art design: Tom O'Connor & Sheldon Marks

Original recordings produced by Norman Granz
This CD release produced by Jordi Pujol

Stereo · 24-Bit Digitally Remastered
Blue Moon Producciones Discograficas S.L.

Press reviews

-How About Uke?

"Admittedly, a jazz ukulele album sounds like a novelty at best and at worst like some kind of mutant perversity -- until one hears Lyle Ritz play the uke, that is. At two different sessions in September of 1957, Ritz, a jazz bassist, went into a Verve studio with bassist Red Mitchell, drummer Gene Estes, and flutist Don Shelton, and laid down 13 sides -- 11 of them canonical jazz and standard tunes that are simply breathtaking for their swing as much as their gentility. Shelton, who appears on half the sides, lays out a sharp line on Duke Ellington's "Don't Get Around Much Anymore" that is answered in counterpoint by Ritz in both chordal and single-string runs. The complex chord voicings on Rodgers & Hart's "Have You Met Miss Jones" offer such color and texture that one can forget that this was written specifically for piano. And Ritz's solos touch on guitarists from Django Reinhardt to Tiny Grimes to Wes Montgomery. Other standouts are Ritz's two originals, "Ritz Cracker," a bop tune, and "Sweet Joan." The versions of "Moonlight in Vermont," "Little Girl Blue," and "I'm Beginning to See the Light" are all revelatory for their wonderfully realized harmonic palette. This is a gorgeous record, one that bears not only encountering, but repeated listening."

Thom Jurek -All Music Guide

Price:

9,95 €  (tax incl.)

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