Rich Willey — Puttin’ On The Ritz — CD

Description

Set for release on October 7, 2022, Rich Willey — Puttin’ On The Ritz  is nearly 80 minutes of music that is designed for your listening pleasure and even for your dancing enjoyment. Centered around several four-horn arrangements by Rich written for a New Year’s party themed Puttin’ On The Ritz, the collection of music is mostly fresh arrangements of great old songs written about the same time as the title song, the timeless Irving Berlin classic.

No two selections on this album are quite alike, so we’ll just let you audition the title track (Puttin’ On The Ritz) here:

There are eleven tunes on this release, one of which appears twice on the CD only: a shortened (radio edit) version and the full version.

1. Poor Butterfly (by John Golden/Raymond Hubbell) 7:06
2. If I Should Lose You (by Leo Robin/Ralph Rainger) 5:56
3. I’ll Be Seeing You (by Irving Kahal/Sammy Fain) 5:34
4. Puttin’ On The Ritz (by Irving Berlin) 4:35
5. My Melancholy Baby (by George Norton/Ernie Burnett) 5:30
6. Holy Trinity — Radio Edit (by Rich Willey) 6:15
7. Song For Janet (by Rich Willey) 7:44
8. Uncle Remus (by Frank Zappa/George Duke) 7:30
9. Sweet Lorraine (by Cliff Burwell/Mitchell Parish) 6:31
10. Hard Hearted Hannah (by Jack Yellen, Milton Ager, Bob Bigelow & Charles Bates) 5:42
11. But For The Grace Of God (by Rich Willey) 6:05
12. Holy Trinity — Full version (by Rich Willey) 10:45

All selections: Ⓒ & Ⓟ Boptism Music 2022, BMI

Recorded at Crystall Recorders, Lombard, IL, and Palisade Studios, Chicago, IL — Jim Massoth, engineer
Mixed by Jim Massoth, Carey Deadman and Rich Willey
Produced by Carey Deadman

Immense gratitude for all the musicians who played on these tracks!

Poor Butterfly, If I Should Lose You, My Melancholy Baby, Sweet Lorraine, and Hard Hearted Hannah:
Paul Mutzabaugh, piano ◊ Larry Kohut, bass ◊ George Fludas, drums ◊ Rich Willey on all trumpet and bass trumpet parts, (EVI solo on Poor Butterfly) and vocal on Hard Hearted Hannah

Song For Janet: same personnel as above except Jim Massoth plays tenor sax in the ensemble sections

I’ll Be Seeing You: Jeremy Kahn, piano ◊ Larry Kohut, bass ◊ George Fludas, drums ◊ Rich Willey on all trumpet and bass trumpet parts, EVI solo

Vance Okraszewski, Latin percussion on Poor Butterfly

Strings on the above conducted by Shawn Stengel: Michèle Lekas (concertmaster), Bernardo Arias, Sam Battista, Whun Kim, Mark Lekas, Kerena Moeller, Emily Nash, Kjersti Nostbakken, Eric Pidluski, Christopher Pollen, Irene Radetsky, Ryan Rump, Bruno Silva, Rebecca Swan, Clara Takarabe, Emi Tanabe, Azusa Tashiro, Kristen Wiersum, Bonnie Yeager

Puttin’ On The Ritz  and Uncle Remus:  Paul Mutzabaugh, piano/Hammond B3 ◊ Mike Pinto, guitar ◊ Larry Kohut, bass ◊ Neal Wehman, drums ◊ Rich Willey on all trumpet and bass trumpet parts

Paul Mutzabaugh also plays synth bass on the funk portions of Puttin’ On The Ritz  and the piano solo on But For The Grace Of God

Holy Trinity:  David Mann, soprano sax solo ◊ Tom Evans, soprano sax and flute ◊ John Swana, EVI solo (electronic valve instrument) ◊ Rich Willey, trumpet/bass trumpet/EVI/tuba ◊ Carey Deadman, high trumpet notes at end ◊ Wally Minko, Rhodes piano ◊ Andrew Synowiec, guitar ◊ Matt Bissonette, bass ◊ Gregg Bissonette, drums

But For The Grace Of God:  Zeke Listenbee, vocal ◊ Rich Willey, bass trumpet/tuba ◊ Saxophones: Dan Higgins, Brian Scanlon, Bob Sheppard, Sal Lozano, Jay Mason ◊ Trumpets: Wayne Bergeron, Dan Fornero, Rob Schaer, Tony Bonsera ◊ Trombones: Alex Iles, Andy Martin, Steve Holtman, Bill Reichenbach ◊ Rhythm Section: Wally Minko (keyboards), Andrew Synowiec (guitars), Edwin Livingston (bass), Peter Erskine (drums), Joey De Leon (percussion) ◊ Violin: Songa Lee (concert master), Josefina Vergara, Benjamin Jacobson, Natalie Leggett, Marisa Kuney, Jennifer Choi Fischer, Mark Robertson, Maya Magub, Joel Pargman, Sara Parkins, Eun Mee Ahn, Nina Evtuhov, Daphne Chen, Amy Hershberger, Tamara Hatwan, Michele Richards, Carrie Kennedy, Armen Anassian, Ji Young An, Lorand Lokuszta, Neel Hammond, Lucia Micarelli ◊ Viola: Andrew Duckles, Eric Rynearson, Alma Fernandez, Karen Elaine, Carolyn Riley, Victor de Almeida ◊ Cello: Jacob Braun, Vanessa Freebairn-Smith, Cecilia Tsan, Dennis Karmazyn ◊ Bass: David Stone, Trey Henry ◊ French Horn: Dylan Hart, Danielle Ondarza, Jeremiah Frederick, Sharon Jones

Engineered by Tommy Viccari and Mike Aarvold ◊ Mixed by Jim Massoth, Carey Deadman and Rich Willey
◊ Marty Tilton, music copyist ◊ Brian Schwab, wizard of mastering ◊ Caricature by Chris Kemp
All selections: Ⓒ & Ⓟ Boptism Music 2022, BMI

Read this review, obviously by a reviewer who actually listened to the whole album (so rare!).