Spike Shieks the Q

For some reason we've never posted the film clip of Scott's legendary 1937-39 Quintette miming "Twilight in Turkey" in the 1937 Eddie Cantor farce Ali Baba Goes to Town. It's both entertaining and historically significant. There is precious little footage of the 1930s RSQ, and despite the gag performance, the viewer gets the sense of the band's chemistry. Scott typically assumes a minor role—no close-ups, a mere background prop, as befits his often acknowledged discomfort being on camera. What immediately comes to mind is Scott's derisive quote about why he left Hollywood and flew his band back to New York a year later: "We are musicians, not comedians." Nevertheless, it's great to see drummer Johnny Williams even when he's faking it.

We were reminded of this great film clip by the discovery of this 1942 Spike Jones Soundie (short music film), "The Shiek of Araby." It's an obvious homage to the RSQ performance:

Cheltenham Festivals

Stu Brown is bringing his Raymond Scott Project to the Cheltenham Festivals on April 29th:

Since the launch of the Music Festival in 1945, Cheltenham has been at the forefront of contemporary British culture. With combined ticket sales of over 150,000 the festivals have justly earned their place at the centre of the UK’s cultural scene.

Box office number is 0844-576-7979, & more details: here

Sensoria Film Festival: UK Premiere

The new Raymond Scott documentary film, DECONSTRUCTING DAD, will have it's official UK premiere at the Sensoria Film Festival on April027:

Sensoria is the UK’s festival of film and music. Sensoria’s natural home is Sheffield, England. The festival has risk-taking and innovation at its core. It is informal and informative.

Director Stan Warnow (Scott's son) will be interviewed by Martyn Ware (The Human League/Heaven 17) and give a Q&A following the screening.

>>> Info & tickets: here

Return of the Puppets

Sinking Ship Productions, who staged this show in 2009 in New York City, reports:

We were one of 3 winners in the Vertical Response 'New Deal' competition. That means we won $2,500 BECAUSE OF YOUR VOTES! What will we do with the money? We're putting it toward a new production of Powerhouse, which we first presented at last year's New York International Fringe Festival. We're currently in rehearsals, continuing development, preparing for a full run of the show. No dates have been set yet, but we'll keep you posted.

She's A Doll!

Volume 3 of Raymond Scott's groundbreaking ambient electronic album series, SOOTHING SOUNDS FOR BABY, features a track titled "Little Miss Echo." In 1962, about a year before the series was released, a high-tech doll of the same name was introduced by the American Character Doll Company. Built into the Little Miss's chest was a miniature battery-powered tape machine controlled by a knob styled to look like a bow; the device would repeat up to 25 seconds of speech.

Scott had two young daughters at the time, and I speculated they might have owned the doll, but they don't recall it. Considering his lifelong fixation with all aspects of sound recording, it's likely Scott was intrigued by the novelty toy. Perhaps he was inspired by this creepy TV commercial, or maybe it was just a coincidence. At any rate, Raymond would be shocked to know he himself is now a doll.

Library Of Congress

The Library Of Congress in Washington D.C. will host a special screening of the new Raymond Scott documentary, DECONSTRUCTING DAD, directed by Scott's son, Stanley Warnow, on Monday, April 12th, at 7:00 pm. Warnow will introduce his film which threads Warner Brothers Looney Tunes cartoon excerpts, rare home movies, and interviews with noted Scott fans John Williams, Don Byron, Mark Mothersbaugh, Hal Wilner, DJ Spooky, and Herb Deutsch (co-inventor of the Moog Synthesizer).

Details from the LoC site: James Madison Building, 3rd Floor, Mary Pickford Theater. No tickets required; the program is free, but seating is limited. Reservations may be made by phone, beginning one week before the showing. Call 202-707-5677 during business hours (Monday-Friday, 9:00 am to 4:00 pm). Reserved seats must be claimed at least 10 minutes before show time, after which standbys will be admitted to unclaimed seats. UPDATE: Contrary the info on the site, the LoC phone message indicates that reservations are NOT being accepted for this screening, & will instead be available strictly on a first-come, first-served basis, so arrive early to claim your seat.

>>> More info at: loc.org

"A fascinating look at a musical genius and the way he lived his life. Stan Warnow allows us to share his journey of discovery as he pieces together the story of his father. I thoroughly enjoyed it."

—LEONARD MALTIN

Free Concert at NDSU

The Faculty Chamber Players of North Dakota State University presents "The Music of Raymond Scott," a free, live performance of Scott's "deliriously inventive freak jazz."

• WHEN: Tuesday, March 30th, at 7:30 PM
• WHERE: Plains Art Museum
• MORE INFO: here

Sage Jazz Festival

Stu Brown's Raymond Scott Project plays the Sage Jazz Fest in Gateshead, England, on March 28. Filmmaker Stan Warnow will appear as a special guest, presenting a preview of his documentary, Deconstructing Dad. The Brown band's set-list includes intriguing new arrangements of the following RS compositions:

• "Wheels That Go" — a Jazz version with wind synthesizer
• "When Will It End?" — Drum & Bass style
• "Celebration On The Planet Mars" — in Klezmer style
• "Portofino" — re-imagined in 1930s style
• "Lightworks" — as a Latin/Hip-Hop/Tango mish-mash
• "The Penguin" — in The Meters meets Miles Davis style

>>> Tickets & info: here

>>> And a review: here ("Stu Brown's Raymond Scott Project was a mini-festival in itself.")

Raymond Scott for the accordion

Last year we offered in pdf format free vintage accordion charts for Scott's "Powerhouse" and "The Toy Trumpet." The offer stands.

Squeezebox practitioner Dionne Hauke (who received our charts) sends along the above ad from the back cover of an unrelated piece of 1940s sheet music. If you're aware of other Scott titles arranged for instruments other than piano or bands, please drop us a note.

Dionne Hauke (right), proprietor of Ziggie's Music, Phoenix AZ

THE WIRE Magazine Feature

The April 2010 print edition of THE WIRE magazine features an article/review about the new Raymond Scott film, DECONSTRUCTING DAD, directed by Stan Warnow, Scott's son. (Also featured in this issue: Joanna Newsome, Edgard Varèse, DJ Stingray, & others. A free 20-track CD is also included.) Meanwhile, THE WIRE's site is hosting an exclusive, specially-edited clip from the documentary here.

"The insights afforded by Raymond Scott's own son add shades of intrigue and pathos not found in the average music documentary."

—Richard Henderson, THE WIRE

ducks deluxe

So much more well-behaved than Daffy, it earned a halo: Columbia Records brochure from 1940, intended to promote a new Raymond Scott post-Quintette release, "Huckleberry Duck," which became one of the composer's best known orchestral titles. The artifact was reproduced in Alex Steinweiss, Inventor of the Modern Album Cover, a retrospective published in 2009 by Taschen Books.

Thanks to our friend Takashi Okada for the image

Dorothy Collins website launched

Dorothy Collins (1926-1994) was a singer, an actress, a broadway star, and she was also the second Mrs. Raymond Scott. Together the couple owned and operated a record label, released countless songs, and during the 1950s they appeared on TV to millions every week on NBC's Your Hit Parade. Dorothy's daughters, Deborah, Elizabeth, and Melissa, have created an excellent new site dedicated to their mother's multifaceted career:

• RememberingDorothyCollins.com

Never Love A Stranger

Twenty years after Raymond Scott's brief stint appearing on-camera in Hollywood films with his Quintette, he was still occasionally scoring movie soundtracks. Here's the opening theme from 1958's NEVER LOVE A STRANGER, starring John Drew Barrymore, & Steve McQueen, sung by Scott's 2nd wife, Dorothy Collins: YouTube

Dubby Sounds for Baby

Boston-based musician/producer DJ Flack (aka Antony Flackett), who is the father of young twins, has released DUBBY SOUNDS FOR BABY. The mix mashes tracks from Trigga, Mouse On Mars, & music from Raymond Scott's original SOOTHING SOUNDS FOR BABY records.

>> Listen: here