National Concert Dance Orchestra: Selections from Porgy and Bess and others (Halo Records)

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• published: 31 Jul 2014
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This is one of those Halo Record releases that screams low budget. The cover is perhaps the only real reason you would want a copy of this record. After all, there are only five actual Porgy and Bess tunes on the whole record. The cover art is wonderful to say the least. Oberstien, for his Halo record line, got the New York Graphic Society to let him use prints of top grade paintings for his label's record jackets. As you can see, this cover is worthy of framing.... too bad the content of the enclosed record doesn't reach the expectations set by the jacket art. Also, the artist attribution is pretty... generic to say the least. I think that the staff at Record Corporation Of America (The company that Eli Oberstein used to release these budget records) got in a heated argument on what generic name they were going to use for the artist credit on this release. I imagine it must have been a stalemate between "National Dance Orchestra" and "National Concert Orchestra", and somebody stepped in and made a compromise with "National Concert Dance Orchestra" so everyone could move on with their lives. The music on this record is very disappointing as there are only three Porgy and Bess tracks. The rest of the album comprised of mainly cheap classical recordings. The last filler track on side A is the only filler track that breaks the cheap canned classical music mood. It is a track from the Royale record album "Strictly Instrumental: Broadway Hits, arranged by Russel Bannett" (catalog number 1241). I happen to have the complete album uploaded here on Youtube. The track "Hoops" is not the only recording on this album taken from that album. "Summertime" on this Halo release is also the before mentioned Royale album. The copy I had was rather worn, which is makes for noisy vinyl rips when combined with fact it's a styrene pressing. The A side is extremely noisy, however DeNoise, my noise reduction program I use for cleaning up my transfers pushed the noise under the desired audio. The first track on side A had some serious problems with needle jumps throughout the first minute of the track. The track is still worth listening too, as the unknown vocalist has an almost operatic style that makes for interesting listening. The rest of the album suffers from surface noise and related artifacts that are just impossible to remove with software. The album is still quite listenable, however you will need to be able to tolerate some noise to enjoy this album. I'm just going to give the times of the interesting tracks I Got Plenty O' Nottin' & Bess You Is My Women (0:11) It Ain't Necessary So & Woman Is A Sometime Thing (3:47) Summertime (6:37) Intermezzo Traumerei Minute In G Hoops (18:04) Side B The label on side B lists "American In Paris", "Rhapsody In Blue", and a bunch of Show tunes that would have make this record worth every penny. However the label is a complete misrepresentation of the actual content, as it is all just cheap canned classical music. Side B None But The Lonely Heart Minute In G Serenade To A Wild Rose Souvenir Traumerei Andante Cantabile Intermezzo