Cornell Dupree - Shadow Dancing - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Trumpeter and bandleader Harry James was one of the most important, successful and influential personalities of the swing and big band era, his unmistakeable bravura trumpet style providing an inspiration and benchmark for trumpeters across the jazz and orchestral genres. He was hugely popular on radio, as a 'live' attraction and on record with his music not only appealing to cutting edge jazz and big band enthusiasts, but also, through his recordings of InchsweeterInch orchestral material, featuring the many male and female vocalists who launched their careers with his bands, capturing a wider audience to achieve a remarkable string of big-selling hits from his debut as a bandleader in the late '30s right through into the 1950's just before the dawn of the rock 'n' roll era. This great-value 71-track 3-CD set comprises just about all his records which featured in one form or another of the charts during his career, including the few that were listed as being Top 10 hits before the launch of the record sales charts in Billboard in 1940, and those which featured thereafter in one or other of the published Billboard charts or related listings. It naturally includes his No. 1 hits InchSleepy LagoonInch, InchI Had The Craziest DreamInch, InchI've Heard That Song BeforeInch, InchI'll Get ByInch, InchI'm Beginning to See the LightInch and InchIt's Been a Long, Long TimeInch. Among the featured vocalists are Frank Sinatra, Dick Haymes, Helen Forrest, Kitty Kallen, Johnny McAfee, Buddy DeVito, Betty Grable, Willie Smith, Ginnie Powell, Marion Morgan, Art Lund and Dick Williams, and it also includes Harry's 1950s hits with Doris Day and Rosemary Clooney. It's a hugely entertaining overview of the commercially successful output of one of the great stylists and innovators of the big band era.

The master session guitarist's rare mid-seventies album contains instrumental versions of hit songs by Paul Simon, Steely Dan, the Bee Gees, Bill Withers, Buddy Holly, Stephen Bishop, Dolly Parton and many more

If some blue ribbon panel of hip musicologists ever convenes to launch a Session Musicians Hall of Fame, Cornell Dupree would surely be a charter member. Cornell's impeccable guitar work has graced an estimated minimum of more than two thousand soul, jazz, R&B, and pop recording sessions since he established himself as a premier New York studio guitarist during the 1960s. Legendary producer Jerry Wexler marveled that once he began using Cornell regularly on Atlantic Records sessions, Wex could slice the number of guitarists he booked from three to one because Dupree phenomenally blended the lead and rhythm parts into one seamless whole-rendering additional axe men superfluous! The classic 1978 solo album, InchShadow DancingInch features Cornell smoothly gliding through some of the biggest hits of the era with a decidedly funk/jazz meets disco vibe. Some great studio musicians appear including alto sax player Alex Foster. All selections have been newly remastered.