Around the World for Lovers - Verve Records

Around the World for Lovers (Various Artists)
Featuring Pete Fountain

2007 - Verve Records

Track Listing:
1. A Foggy Day - Louis Armstrong
2. April In Paris - Sarah Vaughn
3. A Nightengale Sang In Berkeley Square - Anita O'day
4. Corcovado - Antonio Carlos Jobim
5. Dear Old Stockholm - Stan Getz
6. Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans? - Pete Fountain
7. I Left My Heart In San Francisco - Arthur Prysock
8. Isfahan - Joe Henderson
9. Non-Stop To Brazil - Astrud Gilberto
10. When The Swallows Come Back To Capistrano - Carmen McRae
11. Manhattan - Blossom Dearie

Dixieland Jamboree - Santo Pecora and His Dixieland Band - Verve Records

Dixieland Jamboree

Santo Pecora and His Dixieland Band

featuring Pete Fountain

Lu Watters and His Yerba Buena Jass Band

1955 Verve Records MG V-1008

Side One:
Santo Pecora and His Dixieland Band
1. Rose Of The Rio Grande
2. Basin Street Blues
3. Twelfth St. Rag
4. Canal Street Romp
5. March Of The Mardi Gras
6. Mahogany Hall Stomp
7. Listen
8. My Lou'siana
9. Maple Leaf Rag

Side Two:
Lu Watters and His Yerba Buena Jass Band
1. Ostrich Walk
2. Chanticleer
3. Down Home Rag
4. Doing The Hambone
5. Aunt Hagar's Blues
6. High Society
7. Muskrat Ramble
8. Bees Knees

Liner Notes:

Santo Pecora and His Dixieland Band

Personnel on:
Listen
March Of The Mardi Gras
My Lou'siana
Mahogany Hall Stomp
Recorded In New Orleans, LA, June, 1950.

George Girard (trumpet)
Santo Pecora (trombone)
Pete Fountain (clarinet)
Armand Hug (piano)
John Sense (bass and tuba)
Santo Pecoraro (drums)

Personnel on:
Canal Street Romp
Basin Street Blues
12th Street Rag
Rose Of The Rio Grande
Recorded In New Orleans, LA, 1950.

George Girard (trumpet)
Santo Pecora (trombone)
Pete Fountain (clarinet)
Fred Laudeman (piano)
Lou Massenter (bass)
Eddie Grady (drums)

Lu Watters and His Yerba Buena Jass Band

Personnel:
Lu Watters (trumpet)
Don Noakes (trombone)
Bob Helm (clarinet)
Wally Rose (piano)
Pat Patton (banjo)
Clancy Hayes (banjo and vocals)
Dick Lammi (bass and tuba)
Bill Dart (drums)

Recorded at "Hambone Kelly's", El Cerrito, CA, December 7, 1949

Cover design by David Stone Martin

Dixieland Jamboree

Here is an interesting contrast of Dixieland jazz styles - the one, Santo Pecora's, coming direct from the spawning place of jazz, New Orleans; the other, Lu Watters', stemming from the site of the latter-day Dixieland revival, San Francisco (a city which, incidentally, has always looked with particular fondness on the treasures of the past. The sociologists can make of it what they will, but it is a fact that New Orleans and San Francisco are beyond a doubt the most colorful cities in the United States and it is these two cities that have contributed so much to Dixieland jazz, past and present).

Santo Pecora and His Dixieland Band

The first half is devoted to SANTO PECORA (nee Pecoraro) the trombone master who stirred so much excitement and awe along the clubs of New Orleans' Bourbon St. Originally Pecora, who was born March 31, 1902, in New Orleans, was a student of the French horn but turned later to the trombone, this being clearly an instrument of more value in Dixieland jazz. Pecora first came to prominence when he was featured with the New Orleans Rhythm Kings in the mid-1920s and still later he toured with a number of dance bands and appeared in motion pictures from time to time. By 1942 Pecora was ready to return home to New Orleans and he has remained there, off and on, ever since. He is known best from his big-toned, driving trombone in the old "tail-gate" tradition. He is heard here in three Pecora originals, standard pop tunes and some Dixieland traditionals.

Lu Watters and His Yerba Buena Jass Band

LU WATTERS, nine years younger than Santo Pecora, has since retired at least temporarily from the music field but it was he who almost single-handedly spurred the Dixieland rebirth in San Francisco in 1940. Before this, Watters, who was born Dec. 19, 1911, at Santa Cruz, Calif., and first turned to the bugle at St. Joseph's Military Academy. He attended the University of San Francisco on a music scholarship and toured around the Far West and also, as a shipboard musician, on a slow boat to China and back. The Yerba Buena Jass Band - Yerba Buena being an island in the Bay and a symbol of the past since it was, San Francisco's first name - came next. Curiously since it was, after all, a jazz form recreated far from the place and time and circumstances of the original, there was nothing at all "dated" or stale in the Lu Watters music; a traditional form had been extended and done so with enormous vigor and a contagious spirit that is evident in this album.

Al Hirt's Jazz Band Ball - Verve Records

Al Hirt's Jazz Band Ball

featuring Pete Fountain

1957 Verve Records V-1012 Mono

Side 1:
1. Washington And Lee Swing
2. I'm Goin' Home
3. Jazz Me Blues
4. Night and Day
5. South Rampart Street Parade
6. Sugar (That Sugar Baby O' Mine)

Side 2:
1. Tin Roof Blues
2. Royal Garden Blues
3. Panama
4. Blue (And Broken-Hearted)
5. The Original Dixieland One Step
6. Wolverine Blues

Liner Notes:

Al Hirt's Jazz Band Ball: Swinging Dixie from Dan's Pier 600 - New Orleans

Personnel:
Al Hirt trumpet
Bob Havens trombone
Roy Zimmerman piano
Pete Fountain clarinet
Bob Coquille bass
Paul Edwards drums

Photos by de Sylva-Dyer
Cover Artist, David Stone Martin
Art Director, Sheldon Marks

This LP was reissued in 1961 on Verve MGV 1028 by Al Hirt entitled "Blockbustin' Dixie!, then release 1965 on Metro (MGM) Records MS-517 Stereo / M-517 Mono again by Al Hirt entitled "Al Hirt"

If you're "up to here; satiated, weary of the dreary, same old tired phrases and "traditional solos" so prevalent in much of the Dixieland music one is accustomed to hearing - then this album is for you. Dan's Pier 600 is the furthermost club featuring dixieland music that one reaches when strolling from Canal Street along Bourbon Street, deep into the French Quarter of New Orleans. And as in the case of the builder of the better mouse-trap, whose wares were to he found deep in the woods, an ever-increasing host of fans of AI Hirt and his Band are beating a path to the door of Pier 600 - at 600 Bourbon Street.

First of all, this band swings - and swings hard, when the tempo and mood call for it; but at the same time there is a refreshing change in dynamics from time to time that reflects imagination and well- rehearsed head arrangements for ensemble passages that set it apart as not just another Dixieland band. Their "blues" renditions seem to tell a new story, too, as they should, of course - no two people having exactly the same backgrounds, loves, trials and tribulations; and what are the blues but a musical expression of one's thoughts on those subjects? Listen to Pete Fountain's infinitely beautiful solo on "Tin Roof Blues"; the next night it would be a little different, for one is a day older, new thoughts have shaded the
feelings to be expressed.

Al Hirt, leader and trumpet, has been well dubbed "The Gabriel of the South:' His technique and stamina are showcased on "Night and Day;" and the big man's sense of humor crops up frequently in half-valve emissions, trumpet and drum "chases" (as in "South Rampart Street Parade") and in some of the startling key changes, ensemble-wise, which are the result of his arranging.

Trombonist Bob Havens hails from Quincy, Illinois - and left Ralph Flanagan's dance band in the spring of 1956 when the urge to play Dixieland became too strong to resist. His fine, big tone is in evidence throughout the album; but it is given the lion's share of the solo work on "Blue (and broken-hearted):' The only other member of the band who is not a native New Orleanian is drummer Paul Edwards, who comes from Ohio. Bob and Paul both played in the band of the late George Girard until the latter's ill-health forced him to disband. Edwards' rock-steady beat and uncanny intuition regarding the whims of the other members of the aggregation help to make him a valuable member of the rhythm section. The same goes for bassist Bob Coquille who listens, augments, and provides good tone with his beat... (usually in 4/4, by the way - another refreshing innovation in contrast with some dixieland bands.) Coquille was also a member of the Girard band before joining Al Hirt.

Roy Zimmerman at the piano gives evidence of his healthy respect for such jazz greats as Jess Stacy and the late Bob Zurke. His St. Bernard like appearance and complete relaxation off the stand be-lie his concentration when at the piano driving, backing, plugging any holes that need filling.

One last word about Pete Fountain, whose tone on tenor sax on "Washington & Lee Swing" shows a becoming influence by a former New Orleanian, Eddie Miller. It was a stroke of luck that the wonderful rapport existing between these six men was finally recorded for the first time (other than on. their weekly broadcasts taped for CBS Radio and New Orleans affiliate WWL) - for less than a week after these sides were cut Pete left the group to accept a key chair with Lawrence Welk, who planned to build a Dixieland contingent around Pete as a special feature with his regular orchestra. Well, Irving Fazola eventually found the lure of his native New Orleans too strong to resist - and perhaps, like "Faz", Pete will return in time to "Pier 600", where tycoons, conventioneers, airline personnel, show-people and (the highest compliment) musicians from all types of bands, return again and again to hear a real "Jazz Band BALL!"

DICK MARTIN

The Best of Pete Fountain - Decca Records

The Best of Pete Fountain

Full 8 Page Booklet Below

1996 Decca Records GRD-665

CD Listing
1. While We Danced At The Mardi Gras
2. A Closer Walk
3. Columbus Stockade Blues
4. Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans?
5. Facination Medley: Fascination/Basin Street Blues/Tin Roof Blues/Way Down Yonder In New Orleans
6. China Boy (Go Sleep)
7. Bye Bye Bill Bailey
8. Lazy River
9. Yes Indeed
10. High Society
11. Stranger On The Shore
12. Over The Waves
13. Oh, Lady Be Good
14. You're Nobody 'Till Somebody Loves You
15. My Blue Heaven
16. Put On Your Old Grey Bonnet
17. For Pete's Sake
18. When The Saints Come Marching In March
19. St. Louis Blues
20. When My Baby Smiles At Me
21. Shrimp Boats
22. Indiana (Back Home In Indiana)

Available for purchase on CD, New and Used at Amazon

Liner Notes:
Original release 1972 on Verve/Decca an MCA release

Though clarinetist Pete Fountain has long been a fixture on the New Orleans jazz scene, his greatest notoriety came from his 1957-1959 nationally televised appearances with the Lawrence Welk orchestra leading a small group playing traditional jazz. Fountain, a Benny Goodman disciple who plays the old standards with indefatigable fervor, is a fixture on Mardi Gras day in New Orleans, leading the early morning parade down St. Charles Avenue with his "Half Fast" marching club. As Fountain walks, he plays the numbers on this record that comprise his standard repertoire--"While We Danced at the Mardi Gras," "Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans," "Basin Street Blues," "Way Down Yonder in New Orleans," "When the Saints Come Marching in March" and "St. Louis Blues." --John Swenson

Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans? - Verve Records

Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans?

Below is part of the booklet

1996 Verve Records - GRD2658 (2 CD set)

Track Listing
Disc 1
01. Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans?
02. When The Saints Come Marching In
03. Just A Closer Walk With Thee
04. Sweethearts On Parade
05. When It's Sleepy Time Down South
06. Tin Roof Blues
07. Aunt Hagar's Blues
08. Beale Street Blues
09. Wabash Blues
10. St. Louis Blues
11. Wang Wang Blues
12. I've Found A New Baby
13. Ja Da
14. Tiger Rag
15. Someday Sweetheart
16. The Birth Of The Blues
17. Dear Old Southland
18. That Da Da Strain
19. At The Jazz Band Ball
20. Jazz Me Blues

Disc 2
01. St. James Infirmary
02. Panama
03. Of All The Wrongs You've Done To Me
04. Milenberg Joys
05. I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate
06. Struttin' With Some Barbecue
07. Bourbon Street Parade
08. Ballin' The Jack
09. Rockin' Chair
10. South Rampart Street Parade
11. Farewell Blues
12. Careless Love
13. Basin Street Blues
14. (What Did I Do To Be So) Black And Blue
15. That's A Plenty
16. The Sheik Of Araby
17. Dipper Mouth Blues
18. Washboard Blues
19. Muskrat Ramble
20. I've Got A Right To Sing The Blues

Liner Notes:

Recorded in Los Angeles and New Orleans between 1959 and 1965.
Original release on the Decca Records label.

Pete Fountain Clarinet
Charlie Teagarden Trumpet
Godfrey Hirsch Vibraphone
Merle Koch Piano
Stan Wrightsman Piano
Don Bagley Bass
Morty Corb Bass
Jack Sperling Drums

There are two things that to my mind distinguish Pete Fountain from virtually any other jazz instrumentalist of any genre who has achieved similar vast popularity. One is that he has continued to hold the respect of a great many talented though far less noted musicians - take my word for it, this is a very rare accomplishment. The other is that he remains very much a hometown person: he has always been quite content to be a giant attraction in New Orleans, going out on the road on numerous occasions, of course, but never measuring success in term of New York of LA or London, and remaining involved in the life of his native city.

- Orrin Keepnews, from the liner notes to Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans?

Blockbustin' Dixie! - Verve Records

Blockbustin' Dixie!

1961 Verve V-1028 Mono

Note, This is a 1961 Reissue of 1957 release Verve MGV 1012 Al Hirt entitled "Swinging Dixie From Dan's Pier 600".

Side 1
1. Washington And Lee Swing
2. I'm Goin' Home
3. Jazz Me Blues
4. Night and Day
5. South Rampart Street Parade
6. Sugar (That Sugar Baby O' Mine)

Side 2
1. Tin Roof Blues
2. Royal Garden Blues
3. Panama
4. Blue (And Broken-Hearted)
5. The Original Dixieland One Step
6. Wolverine Blues

Liner Notes:

BLOCKBUSTIN' DIXIE - AL HURT PETE FOUNTAIN

Here's Blockbustin' Dixie, in every sense of the word. And it's played by two bearded giants of Dixieland - trumpeter Al Hirt and clarinetist Pete Fountain. It marks the first and only time this fabulous pair of New Orleans sons has appeared together on records. It also marks one of the rare recorded appearances by clarinet wizard Pete Fountain playing tenor sax (you'll be hearing his tenor on Washington and Lee Swing).

AI Hirt is known from coast to coast as the phenomenal trumpeter whose range is apparently limitless, and whose showmanship is legendary. His appearances on The Dinah Shore TV Show and his best-selling records have made him the most sought after trumpeter in Dixieland. His amazing style and technique can be heard to advantage on Night And Day.

Pete Fountain is nearly everyone's favorite clarinet player. His liquid sound and his crisp beard were Dixieland high spots on the Lawrence Welk TV show when Pete was with the band. Listen to his sweet and lowdown style on the classic Tin Roof Blues.

For this once-in-a-lifetime session, Al and Pete surrounded themselves with a cast of hardy New Orleans style sidemen: Bob Havens, trombone; Roy Zimmerman, piano; Bob Coquille, bass; and Paul Edwards, drums.

All of the flash and fire that make Hirt the Big Man on Trumpet and Fountain the Leader on Clarinet come roaring out of New Orleans in a session with pace and excitement and solid swing - truly Blockbustin' Dixie!

Their only Recorded Appearance Together!