New Pop Records

When Bandleader Jimmie Lunceford died in 1947, his band was already something of a legend. Its trumpets could play with the fluency of flutes, its saxophones with the sweetness of strings. Moreover, the adventurous arrangements made music instead of noise. Columbia has now issued Lunceford Special, an LP containing eight characteristic numbers, from the early (1934), hectic White Heat to such sophisticated selections as Uptown Blues and Chopin's Prelude No. 7.

Other new pop records:

Tonight We're Setting the Woods on Fire (Jo Stafford and Frankie Laine; Columbia). Songstress Stafford throws her bestselling voice behind two trends: 1) a duet with another popular singer, and 2) a hillbilly song. This one is a razzmatazz spoof on a pair of country folk on their way to a Saturday night spree. It is fast and loud, and its whipcracking arrangement gives it a fine juke-box flavor.

Takes Two to Tango (Ralph Marterie's Orchestra; Mercury). Vocalist Lola Ameche sings a raucous invitation to I'amour. The rhythm is broadly Latin-American, but the thumping delivery is strictly Yankee.

Come On Home (Duke Ellington; Okeh). "Father, oh father, come home with me now" brought up to date. The Duke gets more tomtoms and wailing reeds into this one than he has in years, comes close to the free-wheeling style that made him famous.

I Gotta Have My Baby Back (Rusty Draper; Mercury). A torchy howl in the Frankie Laine tradition, backed by a big, swinging band and a few real jazz licks.

Jerry (Harry Belafonte; Victor). The bopsinger-turned-folkstylist gets off this throbbing worksong about timber rolling and a cooperative mule.

Bella Musica (Dinah Shore; Victor). This one is almost certain to hit the juke trade hard: it has plenty of repetition, a jigging rhythm and not a trace of plot or even idea.

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