Heinie Beau & Milt Bernhart - Rare and Obscure Jazz Albums: Moviesville Jazz / the Sound of Bernhart (2021)

Moviesville Jazz
Heinie Beau (1911-1987), was not only a fine instrumentalist —clarinet, alto sax, flute— but also one of Hollywood’s finest independent arrangers, who worked for countless top orchestras and artists, including Tommy Dorsey, Red Nichols, Axel Stordahl, Paul Weston, Peggy Lee, and others. He was also an arranger for major TV and radio shows for a time, and a frequent contributor to motion picture scores. "Moviesville Jazz" is mood music in the jazz idiom. Each track is loaded with excellent solos by some of the best Hollywood studio jazz musicians, and Heinie Beau’s compositions and orchestrations provide the cohesion, purpose, and integration that make the music so enjoyable. For when jazz goes to the movies, a good time is had by all.

The Sound of Bernhart
Milt Bernhart (1926-2004) grew up as a musician playing in the bands of Boyd Raeburn, Buddy Franklyn, Jimmy James, Teddy Powell and ultimately Stan Kenton. His years with Kenton (1946-1951) led Bernhart to considerable popularity with jazz fans. After leaving Kenton, he devoted all of his time to studio work in Hollywood, where he participated in countless recordings. "The Sound of Bernhart" comprised of scores of sounds, five different groups all in all, playing mostly standards, with two originals, one each by Calvin Jackson and Fred Katz, who did most of the arranging. It is an out-and-out tour de force album, offering much variety, great musical interest and wonderful changes of pace, with Bernhart sliding fromlusty jazz blowing, to tight collaboration with the classically scored cellos. In addition, all the playing is excellent and the writing is too.