Midnight Sleighride -- Sauter - Finegan Orchestra

[XylophoneNoir]

JOE VENUTO was the mallets monster who brought these burning xylophone passages into the huge Sauter-Finegan arrangements. Though he had to have been a very busy studio player, Venuto doesn't have the name recognition his peers have. To me this is a great loss, especially as this guy could be heard playing progressive passages on xylophone at the height of the vibraphone in Jazz.

[cushmanrm]

If it helps the discussion: I have the 1955 LP "The Sons of Sauter-Finegan" (RCA Victor LPM-1104), and it lists the musicians on that album: Bobby Nichols (trumpet and fluegel horn), Nick Travis (trumpet and valve trombone), Sonny Russo (trombone), Tommy Mitchell (trombone), Joe Venuto (marimba and vibes), Francis James (bass), Mousey Alexander (drums), and Bill Finegan ("and, oh yes, the boss on piano").

[The21stcenturypaul]

Great clip! Priceless! I heard "The Minute" (a track from Adventures In Time) , & came looking for more by this delightfully adventurous & experimental orchestra project... how wonderful to be able to see & hear them in action. Thanks so much for posting!!

[larssondj]

That is a monstrous puddle to the right of Mr. Finegan at the end, isn't it?

[iomoo]

playing this in band! it's absolutely wonderful!

[PlymouthRacer729]

@iomoo i remember playing it my freshman year. it was great!

[Flutelette1]

That xylophone player is killin' it.

[shockerbandman]

I have watched this video a dozen times or more in the last month. My high school band is playing a nice arrangement of "Midnight Sleighride" on our next concert, so I was thrilled to find this great footage of the Sauter-Finegan Orchestra!

[pap4456]

Would that be Joe Venuto on the xylo?

[noroas5544]

This song, from Prokofiev's "Lt. Kije" suite served as my introduction to the Sauter-Finegan orchestra, who, when I was in high school, performed in the college town where I grew up. I just finished a 300 page memoir about growing up in this magic town in the 40s and 50s, and attending a 'special' SF concert is described within. Watch for it around Christmas -- the title is "Thumbs Up, V for Victory, I Love You."

[jaschaheifetz]

Super rare. Really strong. I recognize the great Mousey Alexander on drums. He was a Master. Thanks for posting this.

[shrinkprof]

The theme is from Prokofiev.

[SonarTheCat]

Great stuff

[TommyMitchellMusic]

where did you get this wonderful video? I see the trombonist Earl Greenberg's son found it. My dad was Tommy Mitchell the bass trombonist on the left. (Lead trombone in the middle was Sonny Russo.) Some horn section. What a band! What charts!

[local802blues]

Amazing!

[realoldjazzman]

I've been looking for S-F charts for years - decades! Anyone have an idea where to find them?

[panzerschnott]

@realoldjazzman Don't know, but Good Luck trying to play THOSE arrangements.

[panzerschnott]

Yes, I would put this band a notch above the Kenton and Herman bands of the 1950s.

[Gefreiter44]

Eddie Sauter and Bill Finegan made fools out of a lot of so-called music critics, one of whom, Leonard Feather, accused them of selling out to jazz in favor of pop music. But the S-F band could play jazz as well as anyone. They had the talent to use any style of music they wished to suit their musical ends.

After more than fifty years, I still worship them.

[DarkMusician426]

my high school band played this song a couple nights ago. itwas amazing.

[hasheedcakes99]

the bells/marimba/xylophone thing player is rockin it (i am not in percussion so i dont know the names) but yeah for low brass :)

[waltandrus]

That's Sonny Russo on lead bone (center) I think...

[barrygreenb]

The trombone player on the right is my father, Earl Greenberg. He went on to be a band leader in Las Vegas in the 60s and 70s. The bass player was Max Bennett.

I have a great picture of this band at the Palladium. I'll try to get it scanned and posted.

[luvmyrecords]

@barrygreenb Would love to see that picture. The picc player is my teacher, the late Harvey Estrin. Wally Kane, is 2nd from left in the reeds. He and Harvey were extremely prolific in the NY studios...Wally can still be heard on "Sesame Street'.

[nemo227]

@barrygreenb Those were the days, weren't they!  Back in the fifties it seemed that the Sauter-Finegan orchestra was all over the radio dial. It's nice to be able to enjoy this great music on youtube. I hope you play an instrument too.

[Gefreiter44]

I was just a young lad during this time and I'll never forget how disappointed I was when my folks went to the Hollywood Paladium to see S-F in person and they made me stay home!!!

My favorite musical organization of all time. I recognize Bobby Nichols, and Nick Travis in the trumpet section, Mousey Alexander on drums, vocalist, Andy Roberts and Joe Venuto in the percussion section.

[1948BigCy]

@Gefreiter44 : I agree. This band was simply so ahead of its time (actually, nobody bothered to try to catch up). It had humor, taste, musicality, and two great arrangers, plus A+ musicians. I can't find a fault. Their album "Under Analysis" returns other big bands to the classroom...absolutely brilliant!

[panzerschnott]

Sauter was Benny Goodman's Arranger. Finegan was Glenn Miller's. Long after the big band era ended, this band, in my opinion, was the ultimate concert jazz band ever. Mind blowing arrangments to say the least. "Straight Down The Middle" album.

[1948BigCy]

@panzerschnott : I agree. I liked Sauter's arrangements better, think they are more original. I have an entire album of songs that he arranged for Goodman. Absolutely the greatest! I'm also a big fan of the Boyd Raeburn group, but if I had to make a desert island choice, it would be S-F...

[panzerschnott]

Yes, those Goodman records were great weren't they? I almost forgot: Sauter also wrote arrangements for Ray McKinley after the war. They were some of his best work. From what I've heard, McKinley let Sauter conduct the band because his complicated arrangements were so difficult to play.

[1948BigCy]

@panzerschnott : Ray McKinley? I didn't know that. Ray's daughter, Shawna, went to high school with me in Conn. in the early 1960's. Totally, irrelevant, I know.

But the S-F band was so sophisticated, so ahead of its time, that, in the hum-drum, conformist 1950's, it almost willed its own extinction. Jazz, except for Kenton and Ellington, was pretty much confined to small groups. S-F was too great for it own good...

[panzerschnott]

That's right. the Sauter-Finegan band, like most other bands of the 50s, was mainly a studio band. After hearing their recordings, the public demanded live performances. Instead of playing concerts like they should have, the band went on tour, but as a dance band, and was a financial failure.

But they sure recorded some unforgettable music!

[1948BigCy]

Panzer: I have this album of the S-F band performing over the radio, once of a series, issued by a label out of Florida (I forget the name). Sound quality is pretty good. Bert Parks is the announcer. At one point, he says "Here are Mr. Sautergan..." He laughs at himself. Great Sauter "Moonlight on the Ganges." And "Exactly Like You" has the most soloing I have heard on any S-F recording: chases by trumpet, bones, and saxes. Plus an arrangement that swings like mad!!!

[panzerschnott]

I've got quite a few of their records, too, mostly DJ 45 rpms. I think their arrangements got more jazzy towards the end, like the Straight Down the Middle album. Hopefully, more of their music will be reissued on CD.

[protoville]

Ooops! Make that howitzers.

[protoville]

The thing I like about this and many other Sauter-Finegan arrangements was their use of the saxophones. Unlike the old big bands with their fluttering vibratos, these saxophones sound like horitzers!

[rmo52]

By "the other stuff" I certainly didn't mean to downplay one or the other. These guys were dangerously talented along with the whole band.

[rmo52]

After playing great Finegan treasures on the Glenn Miller Orchestra and listening to countermelodies, inner voicings, etc., it's always great to hear "the other stuff". There's a double CD release, "Sauter-Finegan, Inside the Sound", that is superb. Personnel lists/great liner notes on there too. Buy it.

[themightyrara]

I totally dig that xylophone man

[ralyn43]

What a band, what a band! Talkin' about variety and creativity. Only other band that could approach it would have been Billy May.

[harrym34]

Brilliant arrangers and musicians! Quoting from a CD booklet, "Rumour has it that New York's finest used to squabble among themselves to be able to take part in the recording sessions."

[Avarice01071]

thats my grandfather Bobby Nichols on first trumpet, anyone have any vids on him? Hes also on Doodletown Fifers as well.

[OttoLink10]

@Avarice01071 1st trumpet is in the middle. The first chair on the end of a section does not play the 1st ; 1st is in the middle so those around him can hear and follow him.

[loujug1]

You don't happen to have "Doodletown Fifers" do you? Would be great to hear that!

[hihorn]

I think I actually saw that broadcast. I was absolutely fascinated by this band, and tried to figure out how they got those sounds. Upon seeing it again I see the trombones playing into the derbies. Aha!

[MykeeRamen]

Takes me back to an innocent time. Lots of experimentation coming out of the big band era. I love this clip!

[sclogse1]

pick up the astounding soundtrack (now on CD) of Mickey One, the film with Warren Beatty. Score by Eddie Sauter, and extensive soloing by Stan Getz. One of the greatest recording of the last century. The LP is fun to have because of the pull out book, but the LP has kinda measly MGM recoding sound. THe CD truly has astonishing music on it. (At the end is a second version of the score, but not as alive, along with outtakes)

[he3fast]

wow

[jordyzzle]

dang!

that xylophone player is gettin' it(;

lololol

[TuckerD92]

Hoy!!! Very Good. We are playing for my high-school symphonic band'sholiday concert, but I wish we did this arrangement.

[Tonythetigertuba]

That is one crazy xylophone.

[ODS31]

A shame the band had to fold due to the high cost of running it. Still they left us with some great albums and many classic singles like this.The changes they made over the years still amaze me today.

[JudithIN410]

One of my favorite numbers. Thanks for posting this.

[indydm011]

He's sooooo ethusiastic...but this song is wonderful.

[jamgibsonjamgibson]

Cool

[Eklund3006]

Excellent! S-F always did some interesting music.

[sclogse1]

GEt Eddie Sauter's Mickey One soundtrack on CD. It truly is astonishing, and one of my top five recordings of all time. (Stan Getz solos all over it). When it starts, you think it's going to be one thing, and then it just explodes with power.

[Eklund3006]

Excellent!! The band always had interesting music.

[mjbari3]

Thank you so much for posting this video. It is from the Colgate Comedy Hour, from May 1954.I love how S-F used percussion; I'm sure it was not fun to play the sleigh bells for that long! Great band. RIP Bill Finegan.

[gregoryburrows]

thank you very, very much for posting that--Greg B