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Interesting footnotes to a brilliant career

Joe Sixpack -- Slipcue.com | ...in Middle America | 03/09/2003

(3 out of 5 stars)

"These later (1940-41) recordings of British "sweet band" leader Ray Noble leading the second of his American orchestras may be a bit fusty for most jazz fans. Although his first band, from the mid-'30s, was a proving ground for many of America's best dance band leaders --notably Glenn Miller, who picked up on Noble's fastidious perfectionism -- Noble himself never quite made the leap into full-on American-style big band. Thus these recordings sound a bit old-fashioned and cerebral, as Noble tries out different compositional jokes and musical amusements. He doesn't quite recapture the effervescent twee of his older work, nor the rugged mania of the Stateside swing scene, but it's still an interesting footnote to an influential career."