Search - Doc Severinsen :: Doc Severinsen-very Best

Great album if you want to hear great lead trumpet

Steve Frazier | Seattle | 08/21/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Doc Severinsen was at the height of his abilities when this was recorded. (I think this album is made up of selections from some albums cut with the Tonight Show orchestra in the mid-1980's).



The album is a hallmark of clean, clear "lead" trumpet playing -- Doc was always great at that kind of 50's/60's Big Band romping lead trumpet playing, and this album features him at his peak. There are a number of fun songs here, with great charts and playing by real pros.



You have to like stomping big bands to like the music on this album, and if you do, you'll like the album."

Very Best of Doc. S. is an appropriate title for this CD.

Steve Frazier | 09/12/1998

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Doc Severinsen is the greatest trumpeter of all time, and this CD proves why. One only needs to listen closely to the way Doc interacts with the band to realize that The Tonight Show Band was a one-of-a-kind ensemble that provided a perfect showcase for Doc's leadership and talent. Pay attention to the unique arrangements, and you will hear a re-composition of these classic tunes. Melody lines and rythmic harmonies are passed around among the sections so cleverly that I delight in these arrangements every time I hear them, and I listen to them a lot! This is particularly true of "Begin the Beguine", "Honeysuckle Rose", and "Take the A-Train". This CD truely IS the very best of Doc Serverinsen's Tonight Show Band Vol. I and II releases, and those were two of the best CDs ever made! By the way, see if you can catch something interesting near the end of "Begin the Beguine"... a phantom trill by Doc that they must have changed their minds about and re-recorded his solo. Some of the original trill, however, must have bled over and was picked up by the mics for the rest of the band. Interesting, but by no means detracting from the piece."

Big band at its best!

jarvis099@aol.com | 08/07/1998

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This CD is a consolidation of a couple of the Tonight Show Band albums released in the 80's and the Facets recording from the early 1990's. Severinsen soars over the band with gorgeous sound and clean, forceful playing. The band performs all selections with the competence we came to expect from this group while watching the Tonight Show. The recording underscores the great musical void we now face with the late night bands of Letterman, O'Brien, and Leno."