The Sammy Nestico Sessions

The swingin'est arranger around today is Sammy Nestico. In fact, Sammy probably has held that title since the late 1960s, when he first arranged Count Basie's album Straight Ahead. My first encounter with Sammy's finger-snapping scores was in the early 1970s, when I was in high school. As member of the school's dance band, I recall that Mr. Lowery, the band's teacher and conductor, ordered Sammy's charts for the band. Music parts came in an envelope along with a floppy vinyl disc with all the songs so the band could hear what they were supposed to sound like. It was an ingenious enterprise Sammy had going.

I love Sammy. All those crazy foot-tapping albums for Basie in the '70s and '80s. And Sammy's own albums in the decades beyond. They all swing. Now, the Jazz Ambassadors, the premier touring jazz orchestra of the United States Army, has recorded The Sammy Sessions (IAN). Formed in 1969, the 19-piece band is sharp and crisp, and perfectly disposed to take on Sammy's swing.

Of the 13 tracks, seven are Sammy originals—Toni, Cell Talk, Shirley, Hip Music Box, A Cool Breeze, Softly From My Window and Dimensions in Blue. The rest were composed by others but arranged by Sammy—Moonlight on the Ganges, Close Enough for Love (Johnny Mandel), I'll Follow My Secret Heart (Noel Coward), Tippin' In (Erskine Hawkins), Frankie & Johnny and Poor Butterfly.

JazzWax clip: Here's Dimensions in Blue...



And here's Cell Talk...