Great Instrumentals

The rich, golden sound of the Gunter Noris Orchestra makes it pre-eminent among the world’s best dance bands. For many years
American dancers preferred it over any other dance band. That
is why “Gunter Noris Plays Requests 2″ is my
favorite instrumental 10-dance album. Two tracks
in particular have made it famous: “Irish Green”
waltz and “Rumba Dulaine”. Moreover, I
like all 22 tracks!

GOLD STANDARD

GOLD STANDARD by Ross Mitchell His Band &
Singers (DLD 1054) $27.00 is my favorite CD for Standard Dancing. I use it everyday to practice. It has 32 tracks–9 quicksteps, 8 waltzes, 8 foxtrots, 3 tangos, and 3 Viennese
waltzes. I like all 32 tracks, but my favorites
are “Desert Song” (W), “Kisses in the Dark”
(W), “When You Wish Upon A Star” (FT), “Moonlight Serenade (FT), “The Rain In Spain” (T), and
“A New Fangled Tango”.
You’ll really like it!

Seeking Dance LPs

I am looking for some old LPs: “Everybody Dance” by John Warren’s Strict Tempo Orchestra (Glasgow Scotland) with a black-and-white photo of Joe and Nancy Jenkins, nine-times U.S. Professional Modern (now called Standard) Champions.

–Richard S. Mason

International-Style Tango

By Richard S. Mason
Copyright © 2007

An all Tango CD without a traditional Tango melody, from the Klaus Hallen Ochestra of Germany! That is his TANGO COLLECTION, 14 of the staccato-type Tangos characteristic of International-Style Tango music, all of them at 33 MPM. The tunes are a combination of classical and popular numbers, nine of them instrumentals and five of them vocals.

Of the popular ones, I particularly enjoyed “What Now My Love”; it’s really stimulating and sung by a fine baritone. All in all there’s plenty of fine dancing here, with many of the tracks useful for exhibitions, although all but four may be too short for that pupose. Here are the tracks and their durations:

1. Phantom of the Opera (Weber) 2:58
2. Swan Lake (Tchaikovsky) 2:15
3. Kalinka (traditional Russian melody) 2:29
4. Turkischer Marsch (Mozart) 2:38
5. Donna Diana (Reznicek) 3:16
6. The Marriage of Figaro (Mozart) 2:02
7. Cherry Pink & Apple Blossom White (3:04) Do you believe it? I’ve always danced cha cha to this tune!
8. St. Louis Blues Tango (3:01) What a surprise! It’s good.
9. Verano Porteno (2:36) Perhaps this is a Tango tune, as the composer is Malando, whose orchestra is famous for its Tangos.
10. What Now My Love (2:28) Vocal
11. Alice in Fashionland (2:52) Vocal
12. Money, Money, Money (2:49) Vocal
13. Part Time Love (3:25) Vocal
14. Belle (2:39) Vocal

Tango Music

By Richard S. Mason
Copyright © 2007

One of my favorite Tango records is the CD The Very Best of Tango, a collection of 16 international hits, all instrumentals ranging from 28-33 MPM, 12 of them 30 or 31 MPM, and performed by Luis Vinicio e la sus orchestra tipica argentina. The most popular Tango tunes are here. It is great for American-Style Tango, but, for the most part, not sharp enough or fast enough for International Style. I used it in the summer of 2006 to teach a beginners class of children 8-12, and they responded well to the music. Some of the tracks would be good for exhibitions. The CD is available at www.telemarkmusic.biz. Here are the tracks:

1. La Cumparsita, 30 MPM, 3:35
2. Blue Tango, 30 MPM, 2:24
3. Caminito, 32 MPM, 2:59
4. Tango Delle Campinere, 31 MPM, 2:36
5. Rodriguez Pena, 31 MPM, 2:07
6. La Paloma, 30 MPM, 3:14
7. Mi Jaca, 33 MPM, 3:14
8. Uno, 30 MPM, 3:19
9. Gelosia (Jealousy), 31 MPM, 3:22
10. El Choclo, 32 MPM, 3:04
11. Poema, 31 MPM, 2:35
12. A Media Luz, 31 MPM, 2:37
13. Un Giorno Ti Diro, 28 MPM, 2:17
14. Violetta, 30 MPM, 3:57
15. Canaro en Paris, 30 MPM, 2:50
16. Adios Muchachos, 30 MPM, 2:39

Enjoy!

Beautiful German Waltz

By Richard S. Mason
Copyright © 2007

Joan took the German CD IRGENDWANN to a children’s class, thinking that the waltz and the foxtrot would be suitable for teaching beginners. Later the director phoned, wanting the name of the waltz, which she loved.The waltz bore the same title “Irgendwann” as the CD and was sung in German by Anke Brochhausen. So back the CD goes to next week’s dance class, which also used “All I Ask of You” instrumental as a foxtrot. The CD is played by the Karl Schmidt orchestra, which has also recorded MOONLIGHT DANCING. Here are the tracks on IRGENDWANN:

1. Heal the World, Rumba, 29 MPM, vocal by Claire
2. On the Beach, Cha Cha, 32
3. Something Happened on the Way to Heaven, Disco Fox, 32, vocal by Helli Gattung
4. Love for Sale, Samba, 52
5. Irgendwann, W, 29, vocal by Anke Brochhausen
6. Tango T, 33, a rousing Intl.-style Tango
7. Don’t Worry, Disco Fox, 30, vocal by Claire
8. Hofball Tanze, Viennese Waltz, 60
9. All I Ask of You, Foxtrot, 30
10. Rock ‘n’ Roll Suzie, Jive, 44, vocal by Helli Gattung
11. Park Avenue Strut, Slow Jive, 38
12. El Bailador, Paso Doble, 62
13. September, Cha Cha, 32, vocal by Bernd Markendorff
14. Tanzende Schuhe, Quickstep, 52

Telemark Records (301-445-4366) still has a few of these left.