Ghost Train Orchestra, Feb 28, Brooklyn

Our friend Brian Carpenter, leader of the fabulous Ghost Train Orchestra, whose Book of Rhapsodies CD contains several cleverly arranged works by Raymond Scott, writes:

Don't miss our last show with the Book of Rhapsodies band on Saturday February 28 before we head into the studio to record Book of Rhapsodies Volume II (all of which can be heard live at this show). We'll debut new arrangements of strange and beautiful chamber works penned by Raymond Scott, Alec Wilder, Charlie Shavers, and Reginald Foresythe, as well as a special treat — some pieces by a seemingly unknown bandleader/composer from the '30s and '40s recently discovered by Irwin Chusid. We can't wait to debut these pieces live (and tell you who it is.)

Saturday February 28

Jalopy Theater

315 Columbia Street

Red Hook, Brooklyn

8pm doors / 9pm show

Note: I won't reveal the name of the "unknown" bandleader/composer, but I didn't discover him. His work was discovered by our friend Takashi Okada of Tokyo, who passed the recordings along to me, and I sent them on to Brian certain that he would appreciate them. It was Brian's idea to arrange and perform them.

Here's GTO's recording of Scott's "New Year's Eve in a Haunted House."

RS Orchestrette/Ghost Train Orchestra concert videos

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.

The Raymond Scott Orchestrette

(all titles by Raymond Scott)

Twilight in Turkey / Oil Gusher

Tobacco Auctioneer

Peter Tambourine

Manhattan Minuet

Little Miss Echo

Square Dance for Eight Egyptian Mummies

Powerhouse

The Ghost Train Orchestra

(all arrangements by Brian Carpenter)

Charlie's Prelude (Louis Singer)

Beethoven Riffs On (Louis Singer)

Volcanic (Reginald Foresythe)

Dawn on the Desert (Charlie Shavers)

It's Silk, Feel It! (Alec Wilder)

Her Old Man Was at Times Suspicious (Alec Wilder)

At An Arabian House Party  (Raymond Scott)

Raymond Orchestrette & Ghost Train OCT 26

Illustration/design by James Weinberg

The Orchestrette boards a Ghost Train

Raymond Scott Orchestrette gigs have been few and far between (they have a lousy—cough, cough—booking agent). Now, following their triumphant August 8 Lincoln Center Out of Doors stint accompanying the John Heginbotham dance ensemble, the RSO has been invited to open for the Ghost Train Orchestra's CD release party on October 26. The GTO also features Raymond repertoire (along with Alec Wilder, John Kirby and Reginald Foresythe), so the evening offers a double shot of Scott. The concert takes place at a new downtown Manhattan venue, SubCulture, at 45 Bleecker Street.

GTO is led by Brian Carpenter, who has been studying Scott scores and creating new arrangements over the past five years. His previous band, Beat Circus, released a 2008 CD entitled Dreamland, whose cover was illustrated by Orchestrette multi-instrumentalist Brian Dewan.