New Pop Records

Fletcher Henderson, a man who not only wrote but played swing music before Benny Goodman, got attention from two big labels last week, four months after his death. On a Decca LP called The Fletcher Henderson Memorial Album, the bandleader-arranger takes his band (vintage 1933-34) through eight breezy tunes. Most famed: It's the Talk of the Town, Wrappin' It Up, Down South Camp Meetin'. Four stars who helped make the band famous--Saxophonists Coleman Hawkins and Benny Carter, Clarinetist Buster Bailey and Trumpeter Red Allen--play some sizzling solos.

Benny Goodman Presents Fletcher Henderson Arrangements (Columbia) is a more exciting performance, largely because of the supercharging of the Goodman ensemble. The disk is more than a sentimental gesture: Henderson's arrangements were the hard core of the Goodman library, gave the band its distinctive character. Standouts: Honeysuckle Rose, Henderson Stomp.

Other new pop records:

The Magnificent Marion MacPartland (Savoy LP). English-born Pianist MacPartland puts out her jazz with neatness and refinement. Here she offers six tunes, each in a mood as distinct as its title: Limehouse Blues is fast and fantastic, Hallelujah wild and gay, Moonlight in Vermont cool and wistful.

On Your Toes (Portia Nelson, Jack Cassidy; orchestra and chorus conducted by Lehman Engel; Columbia LP). The 1936 Broadway musical, revived on records. Particularly welcome for reviving two of Broadway's sweetest songs: Quiet Night and Glad to Be Unhappy.

Woody Herman Goes Native (Mars LP). Swing Bandleader Herman is part proprietor of this comparatively new label, which features recordings of his own outfits. This one concentrates on tricky Calypso rhythms, juggled with virtuosity.

Body and Soul (George Shearing Quintet; M-G-M). Pianist Shearing has his sophisticated moments with this oldtimer, but the top kicks come from Jean Thielemans' mellow harmonica playing.

Heap Big Heat (Buddy Morrow Orchestra; RCA Victor). Basically just an old rhythm cliche--a slow drag with a solid thump--but Morrow gives it a rousing treatment.

I'm Walking Behind You (Frank Sinatra; Capitol). A tear-dripper in which Frankie Sinatra promises to be loyally standing by on his false love's wedding day.

Moanin' Low (Libby Holman; Decca Curtain Call Series). A nostalgic reissue of Torch Singer Holman wailing one of the most memorable blues songs of 1929.

Oo What You Do to Me (Patti Page; Mercury). Patti Page, back to Topic A, after proving, in a song about a doggie in a window,, that she can make a hit without appealing to any fundamental instinct whatever. Bound for the bestseller lists.

Uska Dara (Eartha Kitt; Victor). Uska Dara (Uskiidar) is a town in Turkey, and this harem-style number reports some of the local color. Songstress Kitt, who once played Istanbul, tackles the Turkish lyrics with enthusiasm, explains them in a couple of English interludes.

Sorry, Baby, You Let My Love Get Cold (Peggy Lee; Decca). A chilly rejection of an old flame, sung with the same kind of dusky emphasis Songstress Lee gave to Why Don't You Do Right?

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