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.

Happy 105th Birthday to Raymond Scott

105 years ago today, Raymond Scott was born in Brooklyn, NY — listen to "Happy Birthday To You" by Raymond Scott & His New Orchestra, vocal by Clyde Burke, 1940:

Would Daffy Approve?

The New York Times reviews the Dance Heginbotham/Raymond Scott Orchestrette collaborative choreographic premiere of Manhattan Research at Lincoln Center Out of Doors this past Thursday.

Excerpt:

Mr. Heginbotham — who founded his company, Dance Heginbotham, two years ago — comes with his own associations, primarily the 14 years he spent in the Mark Morris Dance Group. As a choreographer, his most obvious connection to Mr. Morris is a fidelity to music. With antic groupings, Egyptian arm bends and vaudeville steps, “Manhattan Research” doesn’t just capture the spirit of [Raymond] Scott; it makes visual the music’s form and offers an apt move or gesture for nearly every sound. Also, Mr. Heginbotham is funny.

Our take? Brilliant, exciting, vivacious, animated. We look forward to further collaborative projects between Heginbotham's young troupe and the RSO.

The Scott works performed by the RSO were: "Manhattan Minuet" (premiere), "Powerhouse," "Snake Woman" (premiere), "Blue Blue Blue Blue Blue," and "Siberian Sleighride."

LINCOLN CENTER presents Free Concert

Lincoln Center's Damrosch Park Bandshell

LINCOLN CENTER Free "Out Of Doors" Concert Series Presents:

Dance Heginbotham creates highly structured, technically rigorous, and theatrical choreography, frequently set to the music of contemporary composers. Along with signature pieces "Twins" and "Blown Away," Dance Heginbotham will present a world premiere of "Manhattan Research," a new work based on the music of midcentury maverick Raymond Scott. Best known for his Loony Tunes ditties, the composer, bandleader, and musical inventor’s spirit — leaping from zany to sultry — lives on thanks to The Raymond Scott Orchestrette, whose dynamic performance of pieces like “Powerhouse” will provide the spark for Dance Heginbotham’s trademark vigor and humor. Athletic, meticulously rhythmic movement will run alongside cool, witty nods to the subject matter in Scott's melodies, instrumentation, and song titles. Admission is free. Details: here

"Manhattan Research" commissioned by Lincoln Center for "Lincoln Center Out of Doors."

Gotye puts Raymond back on the charts

It's probably been at least half a century since Ray scored a new hit, but thanks to Belgian-born Australian recording artist Gotye, Raymond Scott is back on top of the charts. Kinda. The Gotye song "State Of The Art" features a brief but memorable cameo of Raymond's voice as the track's finale, which was lifted from our Manhattan Research Inc. 2-CD/book compilation. The Gotye album, titled Making Mirrors, reached the Top 10 on the US Billboard 200, is currently the #2 US Rock Album (behind Bruce Springsteen, who holds the top slot at the moment), is the #1 US Alternative Album, and has already achieved global Gold, Platinum, and Triple Platinum sales status. Gotye will be this week's music guest on Saturday Night Live. • UPDATE: Gotye recently gave us this quote:

"Raymond Scott recorded some of the most unique and beguiling electronic sounds. An incessant inventor, designer, tinkerer — he's a big inspiration for me as a producer. His tightly orchestrated preudo-jazz with his Quintette was truly singular too. He was a real musical visionary."

Fan-art by 11-year old girl

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A Raymond Scott fan was moved to tears when given this drawing made by an 11-year old girl as a birthday gift — the proud fan explains: "She doesn't know Raymond's personal background, so this emotion is based only on the music. She played piano for 3 years, moving on to clarinet next week. New influences! It made me cry with happiness."

Arnold Eidus (1922-2013)

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.

Cindy + Me

Stereogum.com: "Caged Animals is Brooklyn denizen Vincent Cacchione, maker of homespun indie-pop that leverages electronics and guitars in the pursuit of sweetly endearing pop awkwardness. He has an album titled Eat Their Own and EP called This Summer, both on UK label Lucky Number, and he’s back with a new single. The clattering, theremin-y synth-bounce of 'Cindy + Me' is built on a sample from Raymond Scott's 'Cindy Electronium'."

Get Vincent's backstory on the tune and listen to it at Stereogum. Then watch the new video, which features a quintet of medical academy-trained monkeys:

The Guardian's take is here. The original "Cindy Electronium" appeared on the Manhattan Research Inc. collection of Scott's 1950s-60s electronica, and the sample was licensed thru Basta.

MAD Magazine-style parody from 1955

The April 1955 issue of the Charlton Comics answer to MAD magazine parodies Raymond Scott as "Raymond Scat," along with his NBC television co-stars, including Scott's wife, as "Dorothy Collars."

Click image above for larger view

Click image above for larger view

Click image above for larger view

Click image above for larger view

Click image above for larger view

Melbourne, Australia Premier of Documentary Film

The award-winning Raymond Scott documentary film, "DECONSTRUCTING DAD," will have its Melbourne, Australia premiere at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image on June 2nd during the 2013 Melbourne International Jazz Festival. Directed by Raymond Scott's son, STAN WARNOW, and co-produced by JEFF WINNER (me), the documentary features: JOHN WILLIAMS, multi-Academy Award®-winning movie soundtrack composer (JAWS, STAR WARS, HARRY POTTER), MARK MOTHERSBAUGH, Emmy Award®-winning movie & TV score writer, & co-founder of DEVO, DJ SPOOKY, aka PAUL D. MILLER, turntablist, producer, & author, and others. Details: here

Dance Heginbotham: Manhattan Research (August 8, 2013)

Dance Heginbotham, led by choreographer John Heginbotham, creates highly structured, technically rigorous, and theatrical dance works. On August 8, at Lincoln Center Out of Doors, the troupe presents the world premiere of Manhattan Research, a new work based on the music of Raymond Scott. LCOD describes the performance:

Best known for his Loony Tunes ditties, the composer, bandleader, and musical inventor’s spirit—leaping from zany to sultry—lives on with the Raymond Scott Orchestrette, whose dynamic performances of works like “Powerhouse” will provide the spark for Heginbotham’s vigor and humor. Athletic, meticulously rhythmic movement will run alongside cool, witty nods to the subject matter in Scott's melodies, instrumentation, and song titles.

The free concert takes place Thursday, August 8, 7:30 pm, at Damrosch Park Bandshell.

Hear the Orchestrette's album Pushbutton Parfait on Soundcloud.

War Dance for Tap, Tabla, and Tuba

Hungarian-born composer/percussionist Gábor Tarján, who lives in the Netherlands, arranged Scott's "War Dance for Wooden Indians" for an unusual ensemble. He recently provided us with video of a June 2010 performance, and the following notes:

The group does not actually have a name (as yet). I brought these musicians together for a project entitled "Tap 'n Tabla." The video was recorded at the Vredenburg Concert Hall, Utrecht, Netherlands. I'm playing marimba.

Scott's music has been an inspiration ever since I heard a recording of "Siberian Sleighride" on the radio years ago. I couldn't believe what I was hearing and fell in love with the music right away. It's a very controlled sort of chaos, and I love that Scott is basically just playing with all these notes. The music also has an openness. I can imagine many of his pieces being arranged for a wide array of different formations. The possibilities are endless!

Next week, I'm trying out a new (perhaps a bit bizarre) arrangement of "Powerhouse" for female vocals, marimba, bass guitar and tabla.

The others players in the video are Sandip Bhattacharya (tabla), Peter Kuit (tap dance), Yamila Bavio (sax), Frans Cornelissen (tuba), and Rembrandt Frerichs (piano).

Raymond Scott for four guitars

The Montreal-based guitar foursome Quatuor Mains Libres have recorded tasty arrangements of Scott's "The Penguin" and "Powerhouse." You can hear the latter at their website and then buy it in iTunes on their EP Eponyme. "Penguin" will appear on their forthcoming first full-length album.

The Raymond Scott Orchestrette

THE ORCHESTRETTE brings Raymond Scott's

controlled lunacy into the 21st century!


When producer and Scott authority Irwin Chusid formed the 7-piece RAYMOND SCOTT ORCHESTRETTE in 1999, his only stipulation to the musicians was: 'don't replicate the original Quintette.' The late control-freak composer might not approve, but the Orchestrette has performed radical reconstruction on his compositions. 

Besides such animated favorites as "Powerhouse," "The Penguin," and "Twilight in Turkey," the Orchestrette repertoire includes lesser-known, non-cartoon works such as "Coming Down to Earth," "Naked City," and "A Street Corner in Paris." The Orchestrette also performs acoustic renditions of Scott's later electronic works — such as Soothing Sounds for Baby's "Little Miss Echo" — rarely heard artifacts the composer himself never performed outside the studio.

 The impishness and splashy colors of the originals remain, but these are all-new takes on an old master.

Watch this video slideshow of photos with music that tells the story of The Orchetrette's concert at LINCOLN CENTER in NYC in December of 2011, to celebrate the 75th Anniversary of Raymond Scott's classic tunes. >>> See it on: YouTube (or browse the photo album: here) And listen to 2 tunes here:

The ORCHESTRETTE:

WAYNE BARKER (piano, melodica, arrangements) composed the Tony Award-winning Peter and the Starcatcher, which earned him a Drama Desk Award and a Tony Award nomination. He performed and toured worldwide with Dame Edna Everage for over five years; he wrote music and appeared as Master of the Dame’s Musik for Dame Edna: Back with a Vengeance, and contributed to All About Me, starring Dame Edna and Michael Feinstein. Barker composed for The Three Musketeers and Twelfth Night at Seattle Rep and The Great Gatsby and The Primrose Path at the Guthrie Theater, and orchestrated Mark Bennett’s score for A Midsummer Night’s Dream at La Jolla Playhouse. He has written dozens of symphonic pops arrangements for New York Pops, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Minnesota Orchestra and the Baltimore, Chicago, San Francisco and St. Louis symphonies. He was music director for Shakespeare and the American Songbook (92nd St. Y); Into the Woods and She Loves Me (Westport Country Playhouse); and A Little Night Music,  Caroline or Change, and The Boys from Syracuse (Center Stage, Baltimore). Barker is artistic associate for new musicals and composer–in–residence at New York Theatre Workshop.
BRIAN DEWAN (electric zither, koto, piano, accordion, vocals, arrangements) has worked with the Liverpool Cathedral Bell Ringers, the Pagoda Chinese Children's Orchestra, the Orchestra of St. Luke's, and Kris Perry's Machines. His albums include Tells the Story, The Operating Theater, Words of Wisdom, and Ringing at the Speed of Prayer. 
MICHAEL HASHIM (alto & soprano sax) studied with Albert Regni and Phil Woods, and was mentored by Benny Carter and Jimmy Rowles. He was the Widespread Depression Jazz Orchestra's music director and star soloist, and has played and recorded with Dizzy Gillespie, Muddy Waters, Nancy Wilson, The Village People, Gatemouth Brown,  Sonny Greer, and others.  Hashim was awarded an NEA Performance grant and toured China and the Middle East, playing most of the world's major Jazz and Music Festivals in 20 countries on five continents. His credits include ten recordings as a leader and nearly 100 as a sideman. As a composer he has earned commissions from PBS Playhouse, Oberlin Conservatory, and the NY Times OnLine.
WILL HOLSHOUSER (accordion, arrangements) When Will was a young music student, a friend gave him a musty old accordion, for which he soon began transcribing and learning various types of music. Over the next twenty years he developed his own sound as a player, improviser and composer. Three CDs of Will’s trio music have been released by the Portuguese label Clean Feed. He leads the band Musette Explosion, which revisits French accordion and guitar music, and composes for film, dance and various ensembles. He has performed on several continents and recorded with violinist Regina Carter and with clarinetist David Krakauer. Will has also worked with Antony and the Johnsons, Matt Munisteri, Martha Wainwright, Andy Statman, Mark Morris Dance, New York City Ballet, and others.
GEORGE RUSH (upright bass, tuba) has performed and recorded with such rock artists as Lloyd Cole, Ben E. King, David Johansen, Natalie Merchant, Amy Rigby, Dr. John, Martha Redbone, Vernon Reid, Richard Davies, Hem, and Japan’s Pizzicato 5. Rush's jazz credits include performing with Randy Brecker, Don Byron, Craig Handy, and Steven Bernstein. As a tuba player, Rush has performed on critically acclaimed children’s albums by ex-Del Fuego Dan Zanes. George's Broadway pit credits include The Full Monty, Jesus Christ Superstar, Caroline or Change, Chicago, The Color Purple, and the off-Broadway cult smash Hedwig and the Angry Inch.  He was charter bassist for the Losers Lounge pop tribute series, has worked extensively with the Big Apple Circus, and his studio work is heard in the Sundance Channel documentary series Iconoclasts.
ROB THOMAS (violin) occupies the violin chair in The String Trio of New York. He has toured and recorded extensively with that venerable jazz chamber ensemble, as well as The Mahavishnu Project and the Jazz Passengers. He also appears on recordings by Lee Konitz, Andy Summers and Marc Ribot.  Rob is a professor of jazz strings at Boston's Berklee College of Music
CLEM WALDMANN (drums) has long been the house drummer for the popular New York-based Loser's Lounge tribute series. He has performed and/or recorded with the bands They Might Be Giants, the Kustard Kings, Ui and Baby Steps, and for solo artists Laura Dawn, Elizabeth Mitchell, and Richard Davies. Clem also served as percussionist in (and recording artist with) the long-running theatrical production Blue Man Group.