1. Got You On My Mind – Jerry Mengo et son Orchestre – Ducretet Thomson Records – circa 1954.
2. Quand Il M’Embrasse – Jerry Mengo et son Orchestre – Ducretet Thomson Records – circa 1954
3. Il Riait – Jerry Mengo et son Orchestre – Ducretet Thomson Records – circa 1954
Heading in a totally different direction tonight – opting for soothing and mellow because today has been pretty nerve-racking and anything BUT soothing and mellow. Going after one of my perennial favorites from the late big band/late 78 rpm era. Jerry Mengo and his orchestra with three numbers definitely in the Stan Kenton/Claude Thornhill vein.
Jerry Mengo was probably one of the bigger French bandleaders of the postwar era. Having started as a drummer, coming up through the ranks of the some of the most notable French bands of the Swing era before switching to Reeds and Guitar before finally settling in with Directing and arranging. When the popularity of Big bands began to wane throughout most of the world, and the size of the organizations shrank and the charts became increasingly less adventuresome, there were band leaders who exhibited, at least on occasion, that spirit that made a progressive Big Band a thing of true beauty. Jerry Mengo did his fair share of the inane and banal and became popular with the “strictly for dancing” set. But once in the studio and those sessions that needed one more track as filler for a b-side, Mengo brought out his true colors and the rest paled by comparison.
Many of his contemporaries were in the same boat – one of his close friends and fellow band leaders, Jacques Helian went the “strictly dancing” route, but he too grabbed the deep spot every now and then.
I’ve always been partial to French Bands anyway – it’s easy to tell why so many Jazz artists from the States often filled in their support chairs with musicians from Paris – they had chops and they had soul and some of the best rhythm players in the world set in with the likes of Dexter Gordon, Stan Getz, Count Basie, Quincy Jones and on and on. And there is still a healthy club and Jazz festival scene.
But tonight it’s some 78 rpm sides from the late big band era with Jerry Mengo et son Orchestre, recorded for the Ducretet-Thomson label in Paris.
