Tony Fruscella Review by Al Campbell
Tony Fruscella was an under-recorded cool jazz trumpeter in the Chet Baker vain, who only managed to release this lone studio date for Atlantic in March 1955. With the exception of Fruscella's playing on a few Stan Getz sessions, he could never overcome obscurity. He is backed by a great, albeit little-known horn section of Allen Eager on tenor saxophone (who played similar sounds with Gerry Mulligan), Charles Mingus' associate Danny Bank on baritone, and Chauncey Welsch on trombone. The rhythm section is rounded out by the prominently featured piano of Bill Triglia, who also played with Mingus, Bill Anthony on bass, and Junior Bradley on drums. Two standards, "I'll Be Seeing You" and "Blue Serenade," are included with seven originals. [This is one of the 50 reissues celebrating Atlantic's 50th anniversary from Rhino/Atlantic complete with original cover art, liner notes, and playing order.]
Tony Fruscella – Tony Fruscella
Label:
Atlantic – 90463-1-Y
Series:
Atlantic Jazzlore – 25
Format:
Vinyl, LP, Album, Mono, Reissue
Country:
US
Released:
1985
Genre:
Jazz
Style:
Bop
A1 I'll Be Seeing You
Composed By – Irving Kahal, Sammy Fain
3:14
A2 Muy
Written-By – Phil Sunkel
5:35
A3 Metropolitan Blues
Written-By – Phil Sunkel
5:00
A4 Raintree County
Written-By – Phil Sunkel
5:11
B1 Salt
Written-By – Phil Sunkel
4:35
B2 His Master's Voice
Written-By – Phil Sunkel
5:25
B3 Old Hat
Written-By – Phil Sunkel
3:15
B4 Blues Serenade
Written-By – Lane*, Adamson*
5:07
B5 Let's Play The Blues
Written-By – Phil Sunkel
4:05
Recorded By – Capitol Studios, New York City
Remastered At – Atlantic Studios
Copyright © – Atlantic Recording Corporation
Manufactured By – Atlantic Recording Corporation
Mastered At – Sheffield Lab Matrix – △10899
Pressed By – Allied Record Company – B-22070
Pressed By – Allied Record Company – B-22071
Baritone Saxophone – Danny Bank (tracks: A1, B2)
Bass – Bill Anthony
Composed By, Arranged By – Phil Sunkel (tracks: A2, A3, A4, B1, B2, B3, B4, B5)
Drums – Junior Bradley
Engineer [Recording] – Frank Abbey
Liner Notes – Bill Simon, Ira Gitler
Photography By [Cover] – Hugh Bell (2)
Piano – Bill Triglia
Reissue Producer – Ilhan Mimaroglu
Remastered By – Elliott Federman
Supervised By – Nesuhi Ertegun
Tenor Saxophone – Allen Eager
Trombone – Chauncey Welsch (tracks: A1, B2)
Trumpet – Tony Fruscella
A1, B2...Recorded New York on March, 1955
The other cuts were recorded in New York on April, 1955
Original monaural recordings.
First released in 1955 as Atlantic 1220.
GOLDMINE GRADING
MINT ---- It should appear to be perfect. No scuffs or scratches, blotches or stains, labels or writing, tears or splits. Mint means perfect.
NEAR MINT ---- Otherwise mint but has one or two tiny inconsequential flaws that do not affect play. Covers should be close to perfect with minor signs of wear or age just becoming evident: slight ring-wear, minor denting to a corner, or writing on the cover should all be noted properly.
VERY GOOD PLUS ---- The record has been handled and played infrequently or very carefully. Not too far from perfect. On a disc, there may be light paper scuffs from sliding in and out of a sleeve or the vinyl or some of the original luster may be lost. A slight scratch that did not affect play would be acceptably VG+ for most collectors.
VERY GOOD ---- Record displays visible signs of handling and playing, such as loss of vinyl luster, light surface scratches, groove wear and spindle trails. Some audible surface noise, but should not overwhelm the musical experience. Usually a cover is VG when one or two of these problems are evident: ring wear, seam splits, bent corners, loss of gloss, stains, etc.
GOOD ---- Well played with little luster and significant surface noise. Despite defects, record should still play all the way through without skipping. Several cover flaws will be apparent, but should not obliterate the artwork.
POOR ---- Any record or cover that does not qualify for the above "Good" grading should be seen as Poor. Several cover flaws.