 |
| Raymond Scott and Arnold Eidus, 1950 |
With sadness we note the
passing on June 3 of world-renowned violinist
Arnold Eidus, at age 90. With pride we note his
Raymond Scott connection: in 1950 Eidus performed in a duet setting at
Carnegie Hall the only 20th century public recital of Scott's
Suite for Violin and Piano. The five-movement
Suite was Scott's only known "serious," classical composition, and we've heard anecdotal accounts that it was composed specifically as a showcase for Mr. Eidus. Though he was only 27 at the time, it was not the first time Eidus had appeared at Carnegie Hall—he had performed there as soloist on Lalo's
Symphonie Espagnole at age
thirteen!
A rehearsal recording of the
Suite was discovered in the
Scott collection at the
Marr Sound Archives, and was
released last year on
Basta, coupled with a 21st century recording by
Davide Rossi and
Ramon Dor.
While researching liner notes for the
CD, I interviewed Eidus by phone at his
Boca Raton home on August 24, 2011. He was a gracious man, and while he could not recall recording or performing the
Suite ("I've done thousands of sessions over the years"), he did remember Scott—fondly. "I got along well with him, never had a problem," Mr. Eidus recounted. "I had a pleasant time with him." Unlike a number of musicians who worked in the 1940s and '50s under the demanding bandleader, Eidus said, "I can't say anything bad about him." (Not that we were asking.) The 1950 disc did not indicate the identity of the pianist, but subsequent research revealed it was
Carlo Bussotti, who had accompanied Eidus at the 1950 Carnegie concert.
Eidus enjoyed a storied career as a studio accompanist in the jazz, classical, pop, and Latin fields. His session logs include dates for Sinatra, Perez Prado, Wes Montgomery, Lena Horne, Cal Tjader, Doris Day, Freddie Hubbard, and hundreds more. Among his other professional pursuits, Eidus facilitated the hiring of musicians for various projects. When Scott was named conductor on TV's
Your Hit Parade in 1950, he needed a string section. Eidus contracted a half-dozen players, and landed a violin chair in the
YHP orchestra himself for a year or two. He also recalled touring briefly with Scott, and launched his own classical record label, Stradivari Records, in the 1950s. A busy man, now eternally at rest. Condolences to his family.
If you missed the Raymond Scott Orchestrette/Ghost Train Orchestra double bill at Subculture on October 26, we have video with decent audio thanks to Mike Nogami, a well-known Japanese photographer who sat near the stage. Our mutual friend, Takashi Okada, has posted 14 clips (seven of each band) on YouTube for your enjoyment. (Links below by title.) Not captured was GTO's grand finale, a spectacular nine-minute-plus arrangement of Scott's "Celebration on the Planet Mars," which closes the band's new album, Book of Rhapsodies. Incidentally, the respective RSO and GTO drummers look remarkably similar. They are, in fact, one and the same: GTO's Rob Garcia filled for the RSO's Clem Waldmann, who had a prior commitment.
