Search - Jimmie Lunceford :: Life is Fine (Quadromania)

SWING GIANT GETS QUADROMANIA TREATMENT

rick from Boston | 08/26/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Quadromania puts out 4 disc sets at incredibly low prices and cleaned up sound. This set features the music of the Jimmy Lunceford Orchestra from 1935-1945.The sound is great, no surface noise like a lot of music from that period.And what a band! The band featured great toe tapping arrangements,group vocals, and great soloists lke Joe Thomas on sax, Snooky Young on trumpet(later to be featured with Basie)and Jimmy Crawford on the drums.Arrangements were by Sy Oliver,gerald Wilson, and even some by the great Don Redman.Most of the songs are vocals, some a bit on the schmaltzy side, but that was typical of the period. If a song was popular, everyone recorded it. This is the second Quadromania set I've purchased and I like the series. Only problem: how about some liner notes? You do get recording details, but no story about the band. But at a price like I paid, I really can't complain."

Too Much Schmaltz

Johnny Hodges | Clark Fork, ID United States | 03/10/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"The trick with collections of some of the lesser swing bands is to filter out the commercially dictated pop music they were forced to record and concentrate on the essential and jazz-based sides. This has not been done here. So while this is some great jazz flavored pop music, I think one woiuld do better to hunt down a used copy of Stomp It Off, far better material and vastly superior remastered sound. Even some documentation. Currently many bargain-priced copies on Amazon."