Carmen Cavallaro
‘Crazy Rhythm’
liner notes
With a technique that married glittering, seamless high-speed arpeggios with a disarming saccharine lyricism, Carmen Cavallaro’s ‘Poet of the Piano’ definition was apposite. A forerunner of the classical-pop ‘cross-over’ that reached its high tide with Liberace, Cavallaro began his musical career as a local solo attraction at plush nightclub venues and on radio. Later, darling of the ivories, Carmen reached a global audience through recordings, film and TV appearances. Our CD selection traverses Cavallaro’s many styles and moods – a reminder (if one were required) of the range that the giant Cavallaro could muster: the entire easy-listening piano gamut, from ‘cocktail’ to jazz, with many a sparkling byroad between. Born in New York on May 6, 1913, to Sicilian immigrants Paul and Mary Cavallaro, at three years old, pianist and composer and conductor-to-be Carmen was already displaying his precocious talent at the keyboard of a toy piano. After formal classical piano training (at 16 he led the orchestra at his high school) he gained early experience as a serious recitalist, but by the 1930s, being already attuned to jazz and syncopated piano forms generally classified as ‘light music’, he had gravitated towards a professionally easier option: the swinging society bands of the Saturday club circuit. In 1933 he joined the ‘sweet’ bank of Al Kavelin (born New York City, 1903-d.1982) in an ensemble installed at the New York Central Park Casino in replacement to that of Eddy Duchin (1910-1951). Engaged initially for eight weeks, Cavallaro was soon Kavelin’s star attraction, with a fan following ensuing from the band’s regular broadcasts. Leaving Kavelin’s ranks in 1937, Cavallaro next played a series of short but prominent stints with a succession of other bands, notably Meyer Davis, Abe Lyman, Enriq Madriguera and Rudy Vallee.
In 1939, Cavallaro formed his own group, which opened in New York at Ben Marden’s Riviera. Initially a five-piece, and later augmented to eight or nine ad hoc, the group had 14 members by 1944, when he disbanded it. In 1940, Cavallaro played a six-month sojourn at the Statler Hotel (St. Louis) then, after appearing at the New York Strand Theatre embarked on a trans-America n tour, which included, in September 1941, Washington’s Ritz-Carlton Hotel, from which the Cavallaro orchestra were network broadcast via NBC Radio (for NBC, Cavallaro would later be star-player and host of his own Schaeffer Parade). By the late 1940s he had become something of a pop piano institution in the USA, his fame consolidated by appearances at such prestigious venues as the Waldorf-Astoria (New York), Palmer House (Chicago), the Mark Hopkins Hotel (San Francisco) and the Coconut Grove (Los Angeles) and by his ongoing series of recordings for Decca, beginning with the 10 sides he made in 1939. This comprised a selection of standards revivified in Carmen’s own arrangements and included Cocktails for Two (this last revived in the soundtracks of Woody Allen’s Celebrity (W. Allen/Magnolia; 1998) and Small Time Crooks (Sweetland/Dreamworks SKG: 2000) and The Very Through of You. First released as a 5-record (78) set generically titled Dancing In The Dark, such was the original album’s success that it was re-recorded, in 1946. By 1944 Cavallaro had moved to Hollywood where he opened with an augmented orchestra, at the Palladium. Contracted first by Warner Brothers, he appeared in a number of films, usually in a nightclub situations, playing himself at the keyboard and/or conducting. Memorable amongst these were Hollywood Canteen (a star-studded 1944 account of screen big names doing their bit for the war-effort, and in which Carmen aired his rumba hit ‘Enlloro’ – ‘Voodoo Moon.’), Diamond Horseshoe (aka Billy Rose’s Diamond Horseshoe – T C Fox; starring Betty Grable and Dick Haymes), Out Of This World (a 1945 Eddie Brachen-Veronica Lake ‘laugh-a-minute lowdown’ on the crooning business, for Paramount, with Crosby over-dubbing the crooning and Hollywood Victory Caravan (a documentary produced by Paramount for the US Treasury Department, starring Humphrey Bogart and Robert Benchley, and featuring, among others, Crosby & Hope, Betty Hutton and Alan Ladd). In 1946 he played his orchestra-leading self, in The Time, the Place And The Girl (a 1946 nightclub musical, starring Dennis Morgan and Jack Carson). Cavallaro’s record hits, which at this time were comparatively few in number, were topped by the million-selling Chopin’s Polonaise in A flat, Op.53 – 1842). By far his biggest hit single (US No.3, June 1945) this continuation of the Chopin craze sparked off by classical pianist Jose Iturbi (in the 1944 Columbia biopic of Chopin, A Song To Remember) enjoyed British sales alone in excess of 300K. In 1945 Cavallaro also backed Bing Crosby on piano in the "Ol’ Groaner”s 12th Gold Disk (‘I Can’t Begin To Tell You’, US No. 1 hit recording of the song featured by Bing in the film The Dolly Sisters). During that year, under the baton of Victor Young, he played in an all-Gershwin concert at the Hollywood Bowl and made the first of several radio appearances, notably on Kraft Music Hall, AFRS Magic Carpet and Fitch Bandwagon. Meanwhile, Cavallaro's recording career continued to flourish, as soloist with his orchestra (his exclusive US radio network rights to ‘Warsaw Concerto’, by British composer Richard Addinsell, contributed to that work’s million-selling status in the USA), and with popular stars of the day, notably Bing, Harry James and Bob Eberly, whose collaborations included Full Moon And Empty Arms (another classical borrowing, this time from the second Rachmaninov piano concerto). Sponsored by the Schaeffer pen company, he presented his own NBC-networked Schaeffer Parade, a moveable feast aired from locations on the Cavallaro Orchestra’s touring itinerary, which for two years topped American radio polls. Between 1949 and 1951 Cavallaro appeared in three editions of the Ed Sullivan Show and made appearances in other pioneering TV variety-chat shows, including Toast of The Town (three editions, 1949-51), Songs For Sale, Four Star Revue (1952) and The Steve Allen Show (1956). As a recording artist, in September 1949 Cavallaro scraped into the US Top 30 with ‘There’s Yes, Yes, Yes In Your Eyes’ (No. 29, in September) and the following year made the Top 10 with ‘Music! Music! Music!” (a cover he shared with Bob Lido & the Cavaliers). In 1952 he made another contemporary chart entry – with his American cover of Eric Spear’s British hit theme, ‘Meet Mister Callaghan’ (US No.28, September, 1952). Although his albums and singles of the late 1940s had all been good sellers, by the early 1950s the general downturn of big band, and his upstaging in popularity first by bebop then by rock-n-roll, prompted Cavallaro to take stock. Changing the direction of his career, he gradually dispenses with large-scale orchestras in favour of small rhythm backing groups. His best albums of the period, featuring his own alternately dazzling and intimately lyrical arrangements of standards old and new, include Night and Day, All The Things You Are, The Music of Richard Rodgers, Music At Midnight (1955 – Tracks 9-12) and Poetry In Ivory *(1956 – 18-20). In 1956 he was chosen by Columbia to record the soundtrack for The Eddy Duchin Story, which starred Tyrone Power and Kim Novak. In this ‘predictable, glossy,, sentimental’ Technicolor, Cinemascope, thrice Oscar-nominated biopic of pianist-bandleader and premature leukaemia victim Duchin (portrayed by Power), Cavallaro appeared as himself only in Manhattan ( – Track 13). He also ghosted the piano-playing scenes. Cavallaro made his first public crossover to jazz piano at an engagement at The Embers, a famed jazz haunt of New York’s East 54th Street. The album, subsequently recorded with his colleagues at that gig, Messrs. Norton, O’Neill and McArdle (selections: Tracks 21-23) graphed yet another glowing page in the catalogue of Cavallaro’s prowess at the keyboard. Audibly evidence that he might have held his own with the best, yet such is the nonchalance of his delivery that he might well be asking us to take his facility in an unaccustomed genre that impressed Duke Ellington! After much florid and impeccable convolution and some dizzy smashing of thirds, a tongue-in-cheek footnote reference to Ravel’s ‘Bolero’, in Crazy Rhythm (Track 23), reminds us that the classical and cocktail virtuoso is only on a ‘busman’s holiday’ to jazzland. Throughout the 1960s and beyond, Cavallaro continued with his time-honoured, pop piano classical style, constantly adapting it to a more modern repertoire. In 1962 he visited Japan, and such was the reception for his highly individual arrangements of Japanese folk-tunes, that for the next 25 years he would return annually to his oriental niche. In 1963 he scored another minor hit (US Top 60) with his cover of the million-selling ‘Sukiyaki’, recorded the previous year by Japanese crooner Kyu Sakamoto. During the 1970s he played as a promoter on various LP programmes for Yamaha pianos and in his final years Cavallaro became noted for his well-attended appearances at Ciro’s, in West Hollywood’s Sunset Boulevard and elsewhere. He continued to play publicly until 1986, when he shared the honours with Helen O’Connell, in a concert that marked the 60th anniversary of the Palace Theatre, in Columbus, Ohio. Carmen Cavallaro died in Columbus, on October 12, 1989.
--Peter Dempsey (2009), writing the liner notes (emphasis added) to a CD, Crazy Rhythm, featuring remastered Cavallaro hits
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Below is the Blog Author’s review of Cavallaro’s “Crazy
Rhythm” CD as posted to Amazon.com:
5
Stars:
Format: Audio CD Verified
Purchase
This
is a meticulously remastered CD of much of Cavallaro's best work. It contains
four types of Cavallaro music - pop versions of classics, cocktail piano
numbers, small group jazz work from the "Carmen Cavallaro at the
Embers" album, and examples of Cavallaro with a full band.
Full Moon and Empty Arms was Cavallaro's pop adaptation of a Rachmaninoff theme. Polonaise was a pop version of a Chopin composition which made Cavallaro a star.
Most of the "Crazy Rhythm" album consists of cocktail piano pieces that are sentimental, intimate and technically flawless.
Cavallaro transitioned to jazz combo work in 1957 with an appearance at The Embers inNew York
Cavallaro's work with a full sized band is represented by several songs: Dizzy Fingers, On the Sunny Side of the Street,Brazil ,
Autumn in New York
Cavallaro has been compared to his society band predecessor Eddy Duchin and to his successor Liberace. Though they often played the same songs, even at the same hotel ballrooms, Cavallaro raised himself to a higher level through his musicianship and technical skill. He went beyond flashy playing to an obsession with perfection which he was able to demonstrate reliably to his audiences. He was the pianist under the baton of Victor Young at a Hollywood Bowl all-Gershwin recital in 1945. Cavallaro played Franz Liszt music for aHollywood movie soundtrack, something unimaginable for
the talents of Duchin or Liberace. In the pop genre, Cavallaro particularly
excelled in Richard Rodgers tunes, Cole Porter standards, Italian songs and
Latin compositions.
Liner notes on Cavallaro's background are included with "Crazy Rhythm" and are the best comprehensive biography of his career that I have read anywhere.
His technical mastery was well captured on his "Cavallaro Plays his Showstoppers" album, which has not been remastered to a CD*. In a final counting, Cavallaro may deserve to be grouped with other classically trainedNew York
Other recommended albums: "Carmen Cavallaro at the Embers" as well as "Carmen Cavallaro Stairway to the Stars" (a Jasmine two CD set).
Full Moon and Empty Arms was Cavallaro's pop adaptation of a Rachmaninoff theme. Polonaise was a pop version of a Chopin composition which made Cavallaro a star.
Most of the "Crazy Rhythm" album consists of cocktail piano pieces that are sentimental, intimate and technically flawless.
Cavallaro transitioned to jazz combo work in 1957 with an appearance at The Embers in
Cavallaro's work with a full sized band is represented by several songs: Dizzy Fingers, On the Sunny Side of the Street,
Cavallaro has been compared to his society band predecessor Eddy Duchin and to his successor Liberace. Though they often played the same songs, even at the same hotel ballrooms, Cavallaro raised himself to a higher level through his musicianship and technical skill. He went beyond flashy playing to an obsession with perfection which he was able to demonstrate reliably to his audiences. He was the pianist under the baton of Victor Young at a Hollywood Bowl all-Gershwin recital in 1945. Cavallaro played Franz Liszt music for a
Liner notes on Cavallaro's background are included with "Crazy Rhythm" and are the best comprehensive biography of his career that I have read anywhere.
His technical mastery was well captured on his "Cavallaro Plays his Showstoppers" album, which has not been remastered to a CD*. In a final counting, Cavallaro may deserve to be grouped with other classically trained
Other recommended albums: "Carmen Cavallaro at the Embers" as well as "Carmen Cavallaro Stairway to the Stars" (a Jasmine two CD set).
*The above review was written in
2010. As of 2014, “Cavallaro Plays his
Showstoppers” still is not available as a CD, but MP3 files for each song (and
for the entire album) can be downloaded at Amazon.com. Incidentally, the CD soundtrack for the movie
“Hollywood Canteen” includes in full Cavallaro’s live-on-film performance of “Voodoo
Moon” with his band. This may be the
definitive performance of the Afro-Cuban style and is also available at YouTube.
Finally, here is one more Amazon.com review of “Crazy Rhythm”:
Format: Audio CD Verified
Purchase
Listening
to Cavallaro is always astounding. His virtuosity truly makes him a master
pianist. It's unbelievable that his ten fingers can produce sounds that make
one think that more than one piano was used to make them.
I
think this guy is brilliant and without peer. .
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