Chaise Lounge – Symphony Lounge: Capital City Symphony – Big Round Records BR8912, 50:31 [Distr. by Naxos] ****:
(Charlie Barnett – guitar, vocals; Tommy Barrick – drums; Gary Gregg – saxophone, clarinet, flute; John Jensen – trombone, vocals; Marilyn Older – lead vocals; Pete Ostle – bass; Capital City Symphony – conducted by Victor Gau)
The music of the early sixties was a transitory niche of auditory sketch. Following the rock ‘n roll explosion of the late fifties, and preceding the British invasion of the mid-sixties, music served as a diversion to the intimidating specter of the Cold War. Lush arrangements of popular songs graced the record charts and impacted the imagery of movies and television. Escapist books by Ian Fleming, hipster cool, post-beatnik narrative and the suave bravado of Frank Sinatra captured the imagination of America. The influx of Latin-based music, including Brazilian samba and island calypso influenced all cultural media, and more importantly, composers. The breezy accessible sound wasn’t a strict genre, but more of a stylistic accent.
Symphony Lounge synthesizes this era with sophistication and amiable methodology. Band leader and guitarist Charlie Barnett has assembled a quintet with vocalist to perpetuate the “lounge cool” sound. Backed by the Capital City Symphony, Chaise Lounge performed a set of thirteen numbers (half of these are originals by Barnett) before an enthusiastic crowd at the Atlas Performing Arts Center in Washington D.C. The “star” of this performance was the intricate arrangements of the pieces by Barnett. Opening the set is “Bon Bon Bon”, a samba tune, articulated by violin accents, woodwinds, saxophone and vocalese. The dreamy rhythm has a subtle percussive feel. Lead singer Marilyn Older has a sultry good-natured voice and brings sophistication to the Duke Ellington classic, “Do Nothing ‘Till You Hear From Me”. Trombonist John Jensen adds a lithe solo. Barnett’s songwriting is effervescent on “Dude She’s Waiting”, a finger-snapping homage to ebullient singing groups. Harmony vocals and a deft touch of orchestra add the right touch of corny fun. References to Kerouac, espresso and kooky notions, merge with a swinging flute solo (Gregg), and plaintive violin to bring a carefree hedonism to Andre Previn’s “Like Young”.
An effective change of tempo is transformative on “Lonely Is As Lonely Does”. The images of “smokes”, a bartender named Joe, and “buying rounds”, establishes a female response to Sinatra’s “One For My Baby (And One More For The Road)”. Even the string measures and woodwind solos invoke the muse of arranger Gordon Jenkins. Older’s textured languid vocals possess the suggestive nuances of era singers, Peggy Lee or Julie London. Barnett’s brisk “In Walked Mo” has a great tenor saxophone (Gary Gregg) lead and a soundtrack vocalese. The jazzy style invokes Neal Hefti-type buoyancy. Faithful renditions of the standards, “A Man And A Woman”, and “Luck Be A Lady” are pleasing but somewhat perfunctory. “Rhumba Azul”, on the other hand, is clever and inventive, combining a number of thematic motifs. This mixture of a looser horn section, reggae-calypso cadence and goofy lyrics is beguiling.
Symphony Lounge, as the saying goes, is a thin slice of heaven.
TrackList: Bom Bom, Bom; Do Nothing ‘Till You Hear From Me; Dude, She’s Waiting; In Walked Mo; A Man And A Woman; Blue, The Distracted Reader; Second Hand Smoke; Rhumba Azul; Like Young; Lonely Is As Lonely Does; I Wanna Be Like You; Luck Be A Lady
— Robbie Gerson
