The annual Friends of Alec Wilder Newsletter went out in the mail this week. 
Those who are not on the Newsletter mailing list can read a web version at the
Alec Wilder Group homepage:

http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/awilder

Click on "Links"; then click on "Newsletter."

Ron Prather

The annual Alec Wilder Celebration at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester,
NY is scheduled for Thursday, February 12, 8:00 PM in Kilbourn Hall.  John
Marcellus is the host.

To view the program:

http://www.rochester.edu/Eastman/calendar/?event&id=441142

Ron Prather

--- In awilder@yahoogroups.com, Gordon Sapsed <gordonsapsed@...> wrote:
>
Dirk Shaeffer doesn't quote any dates for the recording by Mitch Miller of
'April Age' by Don Cherry with Percy Faith's Orchestra, although the sheet music
shows it as being written in 1956.
>

Dates, he's asking, 50 years later!

What I mean, of course, is thanks for this story, Gordon, which I didn't know,
and which recording, in fact, I didn't know of either.

I am surprised though that the date is 1956 because the first I could have seen
of the sheet music would have been around the beginning of that year, and I just
sort of assumed the song had been around for any number of years before that. 
Makes me wonder, now, whether the Don Cherry cut really was the first, as I've
always believed, or only one of a too-small bunch.

But thanx again for the input.

Dirk (with a "c" in Schaeffer)

Dirk Shaeffer doesn't quote any dates for the recording by Mitch Miller of
'April Age' by Don Cherry with Percy Faith's Orchestra, although the sheet music
shows it as being written in 1956.

At that time Cleo Laine had just left husband John Dankworth's band  and set off
on her own recording career.  I still treasure an EP, which was Cleo's second
for the Pye/Nixa  label, recorded in September 1956. The sleeve note says  "The
title song "The April Age", comes from the pen of Alex (sic) Wilder, a prolific
writer of high-class popular songs and a well known stormy petrel of the jazz
scene of the 'thirties. This, again, is a first recording, and the song was
especially sent from the United States for Miss Laine to exercise upon it the
charm and distinction of her vocal style."

The EP also included "I'll Remember April", "April in Paris" and "I Dedicate
April".  Interestingly the accompanying quintet includes John Dankworth
appearing under the pseudonym 'George Martin' - George was, at that time,
Dankworth's record producer on another label, whilst doubling as producer for
the Beatles. The tracks are on a CD "Cleo's Choice" available from the Dankworth
website and perhaps from other dealers"

http://quarternotes.com/

Gordon Sapsed

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

The annual Alec Wilder Concert in New York City will be held on Saturday, April
4th at 3PM, St. Peter's Church, Lexington Ave. at 54th Street.  Concert details
are not yet available, but at least we know the time and the place so that
arrangements can be made by those planning to attend.

Ron Prather

According to CDUniverse, the Frank Wess Quartet CD (containing "It's So
Peaceful") was originally recorded in 1960 as a Moodsville LP, and reissued on
May 11, 2004 on the Original Jazz Classics label.  Though "not exactly new
information," the reissue  came to my attention in a review dated January 15,
2009 (I guess that's today):

http://monksjazzandblues.blogspot.com/2009/01/frank-wess-frank-wess-quartet-
1960.html

Ron Prather

P.S.  Nice to hear from you Orrin.

It's nice to be reminded.  But this is not exactly new  information, and
interested parties should not spend too much time trying to  locate this item in
their local record store -- assuming that store is still in  business.

This reissue has got to be two or three decades old.  My old friend  Tommy
Flanagan died in 2001, and it has been quite a few years since the  "Original
Jazz Classics" reissue series was active.  (It was developed by  Fantasy
Records, who owned the Prestige Records catalog from about 1970  until Fantasy
itself was acquired by Concord Music Group about three years ago....

Orrin Keepnews

A reissue of the 1960 Moodsville LP by the Frank Wess Quartet [Original Jazz
Classics] features Wilder's "It's So Peaceful In The Country."  Wess on flute is
accompanied by pianist Tommy Flanagan, Eddie Jones on bass, and Bobby Donaldson
on drums.

Ron Prather

On Dec 24, 2008, at 10:00 AM, Dirk Schaeffer wrote:

> Other times, I'd drop in on Howie Richmond and he would lay stacks
> of sheet music and occasional demo records on me.

I wonder if one of those demo records included "Horn Belt Boogie".

John Barrows

Some Xmas-y Nostalgia

Here's a couple of stories I didn't include in my earlier Nostalgia series
because they're not directly about Alec.  But they're Alec-related, and sure
feel like Santa Claus.

One July,  Alec suggested I talk to Mabel Mercer and set it up for me to see her
a couple of nights later.  She was working Upstairs at the Downstairs on 52nd
Street then, and I showed up fairly early in the evening, figuring things would
be less busy then.

Mabel was close to legendary even in the mid-fifties, but still much more than I
could have expected.  I've only met two other women like her (Jo Baker and Helen
Stevenson Meyner, Adlai's niece, and wife of a Governor of New Jersey) in my
life:  absolutely regal without being in the least imperious.  The sort of woman
one automatically wants nothing more than to be of service to.  I was sort of
dumbstruck, but we chatted for 20 or 30 minutes; I remember bringing up the
rather apocryphal tale of Alec's having shambled into whatever club she was in
at the time at three o'clock one morning, soaking wet through both shirts and
jackets after walking about in the rain, and thrusting a manuscript at her:
"Here" and walking out again.  Thus was born a "While We're Young" legend.  She
denied it all, of course.

When she went back to singing she sort of apologized for the next song, but
explained it was a favor to a friend.  Some years earlier Alec had spent some
time in Hollywood writing the music for a Fred Astaire vehicle, "Daddy Long
Legs": it included a Christmas song. Before the film got made, however, it
changed producers and the new one threw out all the music and ordered a whole
new score.  No problem, except that the studio owned all the music Alec had
written and had no interest in releasing it.

So there I sat on a hot July night in Manhattan, listening to Mabel Mercer sing
a bootleg Christmas song for me.

Other times, I'd drop in on Howie Richmond and he would lay stacks of sheet
music and occasional demo records on me.  One of them struck me as one of Alec's
most poignant ballads, but existed only as sheet music.  Why hasn't this been
recorded, I asked.  Well, it's an evergreen, Howie explained, and that means
once it is recorded it will be around forever (we really believed that then: 
Jerome Kern, Cole Porter, Rodgers and Hart; that music would never lose its
dominance) so it didn't really matter that it wasn't around like right today. 
It did to me, I insisted, because I want to hear it, not just look at it.  And I
kept on insisting that to anyone that would listen.

Some months went by until one afternoon as I came back to my office at United
Press, my boss said casually "Mitch Miller called.  He wants you to come to the
East Side studio at 3 o'clock".  So I asked for the time off and went down there
as requested.  The studio, apparently a former theater, was empty and black when
I got there, except for a large orchestra on the stage, a bunch of technicians,
and Mitch about ten rows up.  I said hello and sat. He said "That's Percy Faith,
and Don Cherry.  Shut up and listen."  So I did and they came up with one of
Percy's most incredible arrangements, walking that delicate tightrope between
inspired craftsmanship and godawful kitsch, while Don (a singer more known for
having married Miss America than his own talents) gave a fairly pedestrian
reading of "April Age".  But at least, I thought, it's been recorded. "I hope
you're satisfied," Mitch growled when it was done, and left without waiting for
my response.

So I've always thought of it as my song, and not been too terribly bothered by
the fact that it is not as well known as, say "While We're Young," which it is
sort of another version of.  Eileen Farrell recorded it a few years later, and
that was enough to justify it all.  And with luck, Marlene will too -- since it
could have been written for the girl I knew then, but he
hadn't yet met -- and close another circle for me.

And a Happy New Year to all, too.

Dirk Schaeffer

The Phoenix Theatre for Children is getting into the holiday spirit with a
production based on a half-century-old seasonal album by Bing Crosby.  An Axe,
an Apple & a Buckskin Jacket, an adaptation by Artistic Director Steven C.
Anderson, will open Friday and run through Dec. 21.  It was inspired by a 1957
Crosby album, A Christmas Story, that was itself inspired by a picture book.

The original recording, sung and spoken by Crosby, was written by Arnold
Sundgaard, with the music composed by Alec Wilder.

7:30 PM Fridays, Dec. 12 and 19
1:00 and 2:30 PM, Saturdays and Sundays, Dec. 13-14 and 20-21
Riffe Center Studio Two Theatre
77 S. High Street
Columbus, OH

Recently, John R. Barrows wrote:

> Somewhere, I have a tape of the Studs Terkel interview with Alec and John
> Barrows from around 1968. I will search it out.

I would be very interested in hearing this if possible.

Ron Wise

Re: The CD "Introducing Janis Mars" [JM]

I especially like her uber-dramatic version of Winter of My Discontent (a song I
never enjoyed before) by Alec Wilder and Benedict Berenberg — who, it turns out,
was Mars' first husband. If she performed this at the Baq Room with this kind of
intensity, they're probably still scraping the audience off the walls.

Michael Mascioli (from his review):
http://ilduce-sufferingfoolsbadly.blogspot.com/2008/11/intoducing-janice-mars.ht\
ml

I'll be singing a couple of Alec Wilder songs in my concert this Sunday at the
Players Club.

Lisa Daehlin

Sunday November 16th at 3PM
The Players
16 Grammercy Park (East 20th Street)
New York, NY
Tickets $25.00
212-475-6116

A rare performance of some of Wilder's Octets will take place Tuesday, November
11th at the Louise Underwood Cultural Arts Center in Lubbock, Texas. It is part
of the Lubbock Symphony Chamber Music presentation, featuring in addition the
Beethoven piano wind quintet and Dvorak's Serenade.

The selection of octets programed are:

A Debutante's Diary
Footnote to a Summer Love
Bull Fiddle in a China Shop
Dance Man Buys a Farm
Such a Tender Night
Jack, This is my Husband
It's Silk – Feel It


Anyone in the West Texas area interested should contact the Lubbock Symphony
office for tickets.

Richard Meek

--- In awilder@yahoogroups.com, "John O Biderman" <john@...> wrote:

> A note on this group must surely be made about the passing of Studs Terkel.

Somewhere, I have a tape of the Studs Terkel interview with Alec and John
Barrows from around 1968. I will search it out.

John R. Barrows

Roger Crane wrote: "I read someplace that Wilder wrote the song for his friend
Peggy Lee but that she never recorded it. Any of you know the facts?"

Judy Bell wrote: "Wilder wrote the song for Ethel Waters, not Peggy Lee. Wilder
admired Waters and in a note in the song folio Alec Wilder Songs Were Made To
Sing, Wilder said that he wrote all his early songs for either her or Bing
Crosby."
____________________________

Hi Roger and Judy,

(This is not to dispute that Wilder wrote "Trouble Is a Man" for Ethel
Waters...)

The earliest recording of "Trouble Is a Man" might have been Peggy Lee's, from
October 18, 1946. This beautiful Capitol side remained completely unreleased
until March of this year, when it finally surfaced -- 62 years later! -- on the
2-CD set "Peggy Lee: The Lost '40s and '50s Capitol Masters," for which I wrote
the notes.  Details about this release are available here:

http://peggylee.com/new/0803_lostmasters.html

A radio version by Peggy from around this time also exists; it's on an
out-of-print 1995 CD by Avid (UK) titled "I've Got a Crush on You."

If anyone recorded "Trouble" prior to Peggy in October, 1946, I'd love to know
about it.

David Torresen

Pulitzer prize winner, composer Gunther Schuller also dedicated to Wilder one of
the movements in his large symphony for Wind Ensemble titled "In Praise of
Winds."  I doubt very many people are aware that Gunther became a close friend
of Wilder's, especially during the 1970s when his publishing company became
Wilder's publisher of his huge output of chamber music.

Their mutual love of words, books, language, and nature provided many an
enjoyable evening for both Alec and Gunther. I only wish I could have observed
them both together -- two absolutely brilliant intellectuals known for their
passion for books!!

Each of them "turned me on"  to many beautifully written books over the years! I
feel most fortunate having known them both.

Bob Levy

(Media-Newswire.com) - Love will be in the air Thursday through Saturday ( Nov.
6-8 ) at West Virginia University when the WVU opera program presents "Opera
Scenes" under the direction of Robert Thieme in the Creative Arts Center.  It
will feature fully staged scenes from famous operas that involve romantic
intrigue.

Performances on Thursday and Friday begin at 7:30 p.m. and the Saturday
performance, a matinee, begins at 3:15 p.m. All performances will be in the
Antoinette Falbo Theatre.

Scenes are from "Kittiwake Island" ( 1954 ) by Alec Wilder; "Summer and Smoke"
(1976 ) by Lee Hoiby; "The Marriage of Figaro" ( 1786 ) by Wolfgang Mozart; "The
Old Maid and  the Thief" ( 1939 ) by Gian Carlo Menotti; "Arabella" ( 1933 ) by
Richard Strauss; and "Tartuffe" (1980 ) by Kirke Mechem.

For tickets or more information, contact the Mountainlair or Creative Arts
Center box offices at 304-293-SHOW.

Contacts:
Charlene Lattea
Media Specialist, College of Creative Arts
Office: ( 304 ) 293-4841, ext. 3108

Jimmy Wyble (b 1922) is best known as a studio guitarist in the Los  Angeles
area - much revered by fellow guitarists  There are many examples of him playing
on www.youtube.com.

A recent CD dedicated to Jimmy Wyble, who as far as I know is still alive, has
been put together by well-known LA musicians, led by Larry Koonse.

Details at http://tinyurl.com/5pjy65

( the first 40 downloads from this website are, incidentally free to
non-members)

I mention it here because one of the tunes, presumably a Jimmy Wyble
composition, is 'For Alec Wilder' .  I know nothing of the connection between
Jimmy Wyble and Alec Wilder, although Wyble played with Benny Goodman for some
years.

Gordon Sapsed

Wilder wrote the song for Ethel Waters, not Peggy Lee.  Wilder admired Waters
and in a note in the song folio Alec Wilder Songs Were Made To Sing, Wilder said
that he wrote all his early songs for either her or Bing Crosby.  He never met
Waters and she never sang any of his songs. He also says that the original song
had a much gamier lyric than the final version. This is another subject for
research.  I don't know the answer myself.

Judy Bell
Creative Director
TRO The Richmond Organization
266 W. 37th St., 17th floor
New York, NY 10018
tel. (212) 594-9795 x13
fax (212) 594-9782

A note on this group must surely me made about the passing of Studs Terkel, an
American treasure.  In the 2005 CD produced and conducted by our own Bob Levy,
Studs narrates Wilder's moving "Children's Plea for Peace," which came out of
another war-stricken era in 1968.  The CD's title is "Alec Wilder: Music for
Winds and Brass" (Albany Records) with the Lawrence University Wind Ensemble and
Appleton Boys Choir, an octet, and a quintet. It is superb, and if you don't
have it you should order it at once, if for no other reason than to
hear and cherish the sonorous voice of the late, wonderful Studs Terkel.

  John Biderman

I have always thought that "Trouble Is a Man" is a superior song, musically and
lyrically, and should have become a standard.  Somewhat surprisingly,  at least
to me, one of the better recorded versions is by Judy Holliday, she of the less
than perfect but, nonetheless, perfectly wonderful voice. I read someplace that
Wilder wrote the song for his friend Peggy Lee but that she never recorded it. 
Any of you know the facts?

Roger Crane

This delightful soiree was a somewhat intimate gathering of discerning
aficionados who nevertheless enjoyed Ruth's selections from the
American popular songbook.  Ruth, despite singing to a less than
crowded room, was in good voice - particularly on "Trouble Is A Man,"
a fine Alec Wilder composition that I first heard sung by Carol Kidd
many years ago.  Sarah Vaughn also did something with it.  Mention of
Alec Wilder brings another tune to mind that I would like to hear Ruth
put her stamp of authority on - "I'll Be Around."

Lance Liddle

http://lance-bebopspokenhere.blogspot.com/2008/10/
ruth-lambert-trio-egypt-cottage.html

In a message dated 10/1/2008 9:11:30 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time,
joelangjazz@... writes:

It is  nice that Ralph included "Blackberry Winter" on his new CD.  I
find  it is strange that the reviewer refers to this song as "Alec
Wilder's  lesser known."  From the context, I am not sure what he was
comparing it to, but "Blackberry Winter" has certainly become one of
the more frequently recorded Wilder songs since it reached public
consciousness.

Joe Lang

Agreed, Joe

Blackberry Winter is a "lesser known" song but not one of  Alec Wilder's lesser
knowns. Of course, unfortunately, almost any of his songs are lesser-known,
other than "While We're Young, I'll Be  Around and It's So Peaceful in the
Country. Those are his only three that can be considered in the first "layer" of
standards.  His "Moon and Sand" is a personal favorite and I'm happy to see that
it seems to be getting much more exposure the past few decades.

Roger Crane

It is nice that Ralph included "Blackberry Winter" on his new CD.  I
find it is strange that the reviewer refers to this song as "Alec
Wilder's lesser known."  From the context, I am not sure what he was
comparing it to, but "Blackberry Winter" has certainly become one of
the more frequently recorded Wilder songs since it reached public
consciousness.

Joe Lang

On the release of the debut CD album "Energy Fields" [Mighty Quinn] by
the Ralph Lalama Quartet:

Alec Wilder's lesser known "Blackberry Winter" serves to close the
program on a warm note with tender guitar phrasings from (John) Hart,
soft brush strokes from (Joe) Corsello and tempered saxophone voice
from the leader (Ralph Lalama).

-- Edward Blanco (http://www.ejazznews.com)

Kitty Kallen's CD "Warm and Sincere" [Sepia] has her 1949 recording of
the Alec Wilder - Marshall Barer song "Milwaukee."

George Moffatt

"The First Warm Day in May" was written by Bart Howard, not Alec Wilder,
in case any Wilder aficionado is wondering how they missed that one!  I
understand that there is a kinescope of the Pinocchio TV production at
the Lincoln Center Library of the Performing Arts in New York City.

Judy Bell
Creative Director
TRO The Richmond Organization
266 W. 37th St., 17th floor
New York, NY 10018
tel. (212) 594-9795 x13
fax (212) 594-9782

PINOCCHIO CD [Sepia]
1957 Television Musical
Wilder-Engvick
$15.95
www.footlight.com

Once upon a time in the 1950's, there was such a thing as an "original
TV musical" and, for a brief, magical time, they were an important and
imaginative staple of network programming. They were usually
star-studded and televised "live"- meant to be seen just once before
becoming a fleeting memory. Such was the case on Oct. 13, 1957 when
Rexall Drugs premiered a new version of the fable "Pinocchio,"
starring eternally-young Mickey Rooney as the puppet who yearned to be
a real boy. "Pinocchio" co-starred Fran Allison as the Fairy Queen,
Gordon Clarke as wood-maker Gepetto, Stubby Kaye as the Town Crier,
comic Jerry Colonna as the villainous Ringmaster of the travelling
circus and Gilbert and Sullivan's Martyn Green as the wily dishonest Fox.

The new score was composed by the great Alec Wilder, usually
remembered for such more sophisticated songs as "While We're Young,"
and "The First Warm Day in May." Lyrics were by William Engvick, who
also wrote the English lyric for the hit "The Song From Moulin Rouge".

Though the video itself no long exists, the TV production was
fortunately put on wax but quickly disappeared as stereo LP's came
into production later that same year, making it a much sought-after,
if hard-to-find, cast album.

By the time he starred in "Pinocchio," Mickey Rooney had been one of
MGM's brightest film stars (playing everything from Andy Hardy to
Thomas Edison) and teaming in musicals with Judy Garland. New
generations would continue to discover him in roles ranging from the
trainer in "The Black Stallion" to the burlesque comedian of the
long-running "Sugar Babies" on Broadway.

Earlier in 1957, Rooney had appeared on TV as the great George M.
Cohan in an adaptation of the Yankee Doodle Dandy's life called "Mr.
Broadway." An album was similarly devised with Rooney singing several
Cohan trademarks and bonus tracks here include these.

Fran Allison was one of the true superstars of American airwaves,
first winning fame as the gossipy spinster Aunt Fanny on "Don McNeil's
Breakfast Club" and later achieving immortality as the human member of
"Kukla, Fran and Ollie," a landmark TV program from its 1947 debut
right into the mid-1980's. Allison recorded for a variety of labels,
from which we have selected six bonus tracks, among them the
children's chart hit "Peter Cottontail."

Narrated by Mickey Rooney

1. OPENING / LISTEN TO YOUR HEART – Fran Allison 2:55
2. HAPPY NEWS – Stubby Kaye 4:33
3. PINOCCHIO'S SONG – Mickey Rooney, Gordon B. Clarke 3:12
4. LULLABY – Gordon B. Clarke 8:20
5. THE FOX'S PITCH – Martyn Green, Mickey Rooney 3:57
6. LISTEN TO YOUR HEART – Fran Allison, Mickey Rooney 5:08
7. THE JOLLY COACHMAN – Jerry Colonna, Mickey Rooney 6:33
8. LISTEN TO YOUR HEART – Mickey Rooney 1:34
9. LULLABY – Gordon B. Clarke 1:38
10. LISTEN TO YOUR HEART – Mickey Rooney 1:31
11. HAPPY NEWS – Mickey Rooney 0:59
12. THE BIRTHDAY SONG – Ensemble 1:20
13. LISTEN TO YOUR HEART – Fran Allison 1:37
14. HAPPY NEWS – Stubby Kaye 1:25

BONUS TRACKS

Mickey Rooney Sings (tracks 15-22)

15. YANKEE DOODLE BOY 1:34
16. MARY'S A GRAND OLD NAME 1:37
17. HARRIGAN 2:04
18. GIVE MY REGARDS TO BROADWAY 1:38
19. YOU COULDN'T TELL THE TEAR DROPS FROM THE RAIN 2:31
20. YOU'RE A GRAND OLD FLAG 2:13
21. TOP HAT, WHITE TIE AND TAILS 2:10
22. MANHATTAN 2:44

Fran Allison Sings (tracks 23-28)

23. PETER COTTONTAIL 2:12
24. STARS ARE THE WINDOWS OF HEAVEN 2:23
25. LITTLE BUFFALO BILL 2:25
26. THE DOUGHNUT SONG 2:12
27. ALL IN THE GOLDEN AFTERNOON 2:29
28. DID YOU WRITE A LETTER TO YOUR SWEETHEART? 2:59