Album Cover Commentaries
HI-FI ACCORDION (DECCA DL-8404 1957) After a couple of singles on Columbia with Harry James and a handful of singles for 2 of his own labels (Century and Continental), Tommy Gumina was signed to Decca Records and made his first long-player as a leader. The LP had a generous 14 tracks compared to the usual 12 which was industry standard at the time. There was a nice mixture of jazz, classical and easy listening and even a polka thrown in for good measure and the LP sold very well. It was a very nice showcase for this incredible jazzman and gave a hint of where his music was headed in the near future, particularly the jazz tracks. One of the tracks was a Gumina original called "Runaway", which had a great opening chord sequence and an absolutely KILLER left hand button solo which, any accordionist will tell you, is very difficult to do, especially as fast as Gumina does it. This LP is a great introduction to a great artist.
MOOD ITALIANO (DECCA DL-8630 1958) After the success of HI-FI ACCORDION, Tommy Gumina wanted to make his 2nd LP for Decca in the same vein as the first one, but Decca had other plans. Instead of Hi-Fi Accordion The 2nd, Decca pushed Gumina to make an LP of Italian songs, and because artistic control of recorded music was still a few years away, Gumina had to give them what they wanted. This LP, however, was not slapped together just to fulfill an obligation. It was actually very well done and is a very nice showcase for another side of Gumina's talent. Even though I favor Gumina's jazz music, I still enjoy accordion music of all types and I not only like but love many of the songs on this LP, especially "Malasierra", the very haunting opener of this LP. This LP is actually a welcome addition to the Gumina catalog, regardless of the circumstances of its' creation.
THE VIRTUOSO ACCORDION (DECCA DL-78877 1959) People who were impressed with Gumina's last 2 LP's were absolutely DAZZLED by this one. He plays authentic classical songs accompanied only by bassist Don Bagley, and his fingers FLY on many of these songs, particularly "Perpetual Motion" which Paganini composed to show off his skills as a violin player of the highest order. It worked well for accordionists, too, as Gumina demonstrates brilliantly. If any one had any doubts that Tommy Gumina was a true virtuoso, this LP will forever put those doubts to rest. "Dance Of The Accordions" may not be considered "true" classical music, but it fit perfectly well on this LP. I have been listening to this LP since the 1960's, and I am still thoroughly impressed with it.
3 UNRELEASED TRACKS-TITLES UNKNOWN (DECCA- NO MASTER/CATALOG NUMBER ASSIGNED) I talked to Tommy Gumina in March and August of 2005 and he told me about 3 tracks he recorded using a big band and SIX accordionists on this date that were NEVER released. These were presided over by the legendary producer Milt Gabler and featured Gumina, Frank Marocco, Carl Fortina and 3 other accordionists. I cannot comment except to say that I hope they will be released so we can hear them.
PACIFIC STANDARD (SWINGIN') TIME! (DECCA DL-74031 1960) This is the very 1st LP by the great Buddy DeFranco-Tommy Gumina Quartet and Gumina's last for Decca Records. It is all straight ahead jazz and a very important signpost for things to come. Of course, the playing is top-notch from both DeFranco and Gumina, and you can actually hear in this and their next 4 LP's a JOY in their playing that is infectious from the first note to the last. I absolutely love their version of "Autumn In Rome" from this LP. The beautiful blending of DeFranco and Gumina on this whole LP and this song in particular, arranged by bassist Don Bagley, was such a fresh sound when compared to other jazz LP's from this same year. Gumina's SUPERIOR knowledge of harmony and DeFranco's well trained jazz sensibilites all came together to form what is still one of the most unique and colorful quartets in jazz history. If you doubt that, listen to all 5 of this great quartet's LP's and hear for yourself what a wonderful sound they made, even by today's standards. If you are a Gumina record collector, I highly recommend that you seek this LP out and buy it. You will love it.
PRESENTING THE BUDDY DeFRANCO-TOMMY GUMINA QUARTET (MERCURY SR-60685 1961) As good as the previous LP on Decca was, it did not prepare the collector/listener for this next LP by DeFranco and Gumina. 1st of all, they were on a new label, Mercury. 2nd, the sound was total, in-your-face hi-fidelity and was wonderful. 3rd, their playing was a whole lot more aggressive in every way and 4th, they started to employ a fantastic style of jazz playing, arranging and writing called polytones. Remember, this was 1961, and this was a time when jazz was becoming free, atonal, and extremely avant-garde. While everyone else was taking tonal color out of music, DeFranco and Gumina were using every color under the sun. There is not one dull song on this album. The LP features a new, blistering version of Gumina's "Runaway" and Gumina outdoes himself on this new version, which also features some fast DeFranco runs as well. Three of the most beautiful versions of three beautiful ballads are on this LP, "Street Of Dreams", "Gone With The Wind", and "You Are Too Beautiful" are absolutely heartbreaking in these versions. Gumina is THE absolute master of polytonal jazz chords (the thing I love most about his playing). NOBODY chords like Tommy Gumina. nobody. My hair stands up to this day when I hear the chords Gumina uses on these songs, and I have heard these songs thousands of times. One of the great polytonal highlights of the LP is DeFranco's song "Playin' It Cool". It would have made a great theme song for this quartet, and demonstrates just how great polytonal writing makes a song sound. As Gumina plays in one key and DeFranco plays in another, you can hear how the harmonic blend created by the polytone system works to great effect in this number. One track that was recorded at this session but was released only as a 45 RPM single was "The Theme From Route 66", a great Nelson Riddle song written for the television show. Seek this record out, it is really awesome and features some unbelievable backup chords coming from Gumina as well as 1st rate DeFranco riffs. Check out the DISCOGRAPHY section for the 45's catalog number. All in all, an A-1 effort for Mercury Records and The DeFranco-Gumina Quartet.
KALEIDOSCOPE (MERCURY SR-60743 1962) Their 3rd LP (2nd for Mercury) finds DeFranco and Gumina delving even further into their polytonal experiments. This LP features more beautiful ballads ("Fly Me to The Moon" and "What's New") as well as some real swingers ("Now's The Time", "Speak Low"), but for my money the absolute highlights of the album are "Softly As In A Morning Sunrise", "Whisper Not" and "Stella By Starlight". Gumina chords and harmonizes behind DeFranco on these 3 songs in the most unforgettable way as to make these versions some of the most definitive, in my opinion. These versions of these tunes will keep you whistling for days after hearing them. Up to now, DeFranco and Gumina have given us a taste of the polytones in these 2 classic Mercury LP's. The next one, however, would be the end-all, be-all of this wonderful jazz style.
POLYTONES (MERCURY SR-60833 1963) This is my #1 Desert Island Disc. This is my #1 favorite album of all time, bar none. This is the LP that made me fall in love with jazz, that made me want to become a musician, and that made me realize that Tommy Gumina is an absolute musical genius. I wore out my father's mono copy of this LP before I found my own stereo copy in 1988. I cannot say enough about the music on this LP. It is sheer musical genius on every level. If you think I am overstating the case, buy a copy of this LP and listen to it from first to last note. I guarantee you have never heard anything like this LP. There's the deeply beautiful "My Ship", the glorious "My Man's Gone Now", and the DeFranco composed Gumina showcase "Bus Driver In The Sky", but THE one for me is the ending of the Frank Loesser classic "Spring Will Be A Little Late This Year". Gumina outdid himself again when he chorded the last part of that song. As DeFranco plays a "swirl" pattern, Gumina is playing some of the tasty-est chords of his career underneath of it all, using an accordion-bells blend on an instrument Gumina himself invented, the Accordio-Organ. The sound of this LP was crystal clear and the music JUMPS off the grooves. If you want to learn how the polytonal system is supposed to sound, start with this LP. It is perfect in every way. Note the great drumming behind Gumina on "Bus Driver In The Sky" by the late session drummer John Guerin. This LP is truly a jazz classic on every level.
THE GIRL FROM IPANEMA (MERCURY SR-60900 1964) This LP followed POLYTONES and featured elements of the previous 3 Mercury LP's. It was also the quartet's last LP. Although POLYTONES was the absolute highlight of this quartet's catalog, this LP was great in its' own right. It had plenty of polytonal music and beautiful ballads, but Gumina went out with a bang with the LP's closing track "Lunar Lunacy". It featured an unbelievable UNACCOMPANIED solo by Gumina and became a classic among jazz accordionists and I have never heard another accordionist even attempt to put out his or her own version of it. This may have been Gumina's way of saying, Goodbye, don't forget about me" to both DeFranco and all the fans of jazz accordion and The Buddy DeFranco-Tommy Gumina Quartet. It was great, so wonderful while it lasted.
JOE HARTKA 03 September, 2008
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