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Herb Geller – ‘The Arthur Schwartz Songbook’

HEPJAZZ Records CD 2089

Herb Geller, alto and soprano sax;
John Pearce, piano;
Len Skeat, bass;
Bobby Worth, drums.

Recorded in London 2004, released 2005

Listening to this album put me in mind of a Preservation Jazz Society’s output: it don’t mean a thing, though it has got that swing. The instruments are played faultlessly of course and the cover photo of the band shows lots of jolly, self-satisfied smiles, but no serious intent. Hey Herb, it’s been done before, so why do it again?

Composer Arthur Schwartz turned his back on a career in Law (and there’s nothing wrong there) and steadfastly churned out show songs that are now described as enduring standards. You know the kind of thing: ‘That’s Entertainment’ from the film The Band Wagon. It was awarded the ASCAP Award for Most Performed Feature Film Standard in 1990. Ah well.

The cover notes to the Geller album remind us that Alec Wilder wrote: “None of these songs concern themselves with anything but the American musical atmosphere of the time. Schwartz never looked over his shoulder at Europe or operetta or concert hall. He wrote with total self-assurance and high professional skill and never lingered by the wayside to gaze with longing at the musically greener grass of Culture. He rolled up his sleeves and went to work.” (American Popular Song, OUP, 1972). Ah, that’s what’s wrong then, right from the start.

Geller was born in LA in 1928, the year that Schwartz gave up Law. He has come a long way to mediocrity, from a heady start with Joe Venuti at the age of 18 and a career that covered playing with Billy May, Maynard Ferguson, Shorty Rogers, Benny Goodman, Kenny Clark and Benny Carter.

The album shows no effort, so I can’t call this jazz: Easy Listening maybe, but to my musical ear, it’s painful. Should you really want to listen to music like this, I recommend you visit its roots. Try ‘The Centenary Issue’, a compilation of 25 original Schwartz numbers from 1930 to 1948 and including Fred Astaire, Al Bowlly, Perry Como, Bing Crosby, Tommy Dorsey, Artie Shaw and Dinah Shore. Now that’s easy listening.

Reviewed by
ken cheetham
January 2006