New Pop Records

U.S. music dealers this week are featuring a box with an emerald green cover, a faceless figure seated before a Decca microphone, and the word Bing. Spread over the five LPs in the package (price: $27.50) are 89 Crosby renditions with spoken interludes by the crooner himself. Most of the songs are original versions selected from the 2,000-odd sides he recorded in two decades.

No matter how some listeners may flinch at Bing's vocal wobble or his persistently overeasy manner, it is an impressive performance, for Crosby is identified with a long parade of popular tunes, from Pennies from Heaven to White Christmas to The Bells of St. Mary's. The U.S. may have changed in 20 years, but not Crosbyland: the emotions are pleasant, never heated, and just a bit weary, the words are confidently unsophisticated, the crooning exactly what it was when Bing made the first record put out by Decca (Just a Wearyin' for You) in 1934. Decca is launching its 20th anniversary "push" with the Crosby package, surrounded by a publicity campaign to recall some of its pioneering trade ventures (e.g., pop albums, children's records, original-cast recordings of Broadway shows). Among other Decca anniversary releases are LPs by Guy Lombardo, the Mills Brothers, Fred Waring, Ella Fitzgerald.

Other new pop records:

Bengt Hallberg (Pacific Jazz EP).Lars Gullin's baritone sax sounds something like Gerry Mulligan's, Hallberg's piano is light and feathery, and the progressive counterpoint eked out by the eight-man ensemble adds up to some fine modern jazz. Imported from Sweden.

The Music of Duke Ellington (Columbia LP). Reissues of twelve matchless Ellington originals, ranging in style from The Mooche (1928) to Do Nothin' Till You Hear from Me (1947). Highlights: Kay Davis' wordless, sensuous crooning in the Creole Love Call, the elegant interplay of Johnny Hodges' alto and Harry Carney's bouncing baritone in I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart. Baby Cox's unforgettable vocal growl in The Mooche.

Lizzy Miles (Cook LP). Billed as "Queen Mother of the Rue Royale," Blues Shouter Miles sounds much like her sisters, Bessie Smith. Chippie Hill et al., with the difference that, pushing 60 she is very much alive. Taped in New Orleans last spring this beautifully recorded album also contains a chorus (All of Me) in French and. of all things, a hot bugle, played by Buglin' Sam DeKemel.

New Orleans Jazz Party (Gene Mayl's Dixieland Rhythm Kings; Riverside LP). A bunch of youngsters in Dayton carrying on the tradition of "righteous" (i.e., primitive) jazz. They sound for all the world like bands of three decades ago, including twanging banjo and two-beat tuba, but with none of the surface noise of old records, and some fresh ideas.

Skokiaan (Bulawayo Sweet Rhythms Band; London). A South African number that, after four plays on a Cleveland disk-jockey show, got such a response that it was immediately "covered" by more than a dozen other labels. It is based on an old Zulu drinking song (approximate translation of the title: happy-happy), has a jigging, mambo-like beat. Mercury's version (by Ralph Marterie) is the current best seller. Columbia's Four Lads made the first version with words. Excerpts:

Skoki, Skoki Skoki, Skokiaan

Okey, dokey Anybody can Skoki, Skoki

Man oh! Man oh! Man

You sing a-bing, abang, a-bingo

In hokey pokey Skokiaan.

How Hi the Fi (Buck Clayton, Woody Herman & Co.; Columbia LP). Another promising effort concocted by two perennial jazz buffs, George Avakian and John Hammond. The title refers to a prankish version of one of the record's four tunes: How High the Moon?

Presenting Red Norvo & His Orchestra (label "X" LP). One of the oldtimers of jazz, Xylophonist Norvo can still keep ahead of the new crowds. Here he knocks out some relaxed and fanciful improvisations on Jersey Bounce, There Will Never Be Another You, etc.

Oscar Peterson Plays Vincent Youmans (Clef LP). One of the finest talents in jazz applies his sweet-talking fingers with such grace that even Tea for Two sounds fresh.

Something Cool (June Christy with Pete Rugolo's Orchestra; Capitol LP). Best known as a Stan Kenton vocalist, Songstress Christy is here on her own, her manner strictly professional, moody and sophisticated. The title ballad is about a lonely chick accepting a drink from a stranger.

Fortune in Dreams (Kay Starr; Capitol). Reminiscent of the brassy ditties of Sophie Tucker et al. Kay herself is to the cafe born, punches out her moral in hit-making style ("I haven't got a bankful, but I'm thankful to say I've got a fortune in dreams").

Mama Don't Cry at My Wedding (Joni James; M-G-M). A sad young thing tries to reassure her mom, although she admits to doubts of her own, ("Maybe he'll just bring me heartaches"). Just soggy enough to reach beery popularity.

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