JAZZ CLASSIC OF THE MONTH
George Bruns (1914-83),no relation to George Brunies, was the musical director and a major arranger for Walt Disney Studios from the mid-1950s until his retirement in 1976, composing music for many Disney films.
While he played as many as 15 different instruments, he is best known in jazz for playing trombone, tuba, and string bass. Bruns was a key member of the Castle Jazz Band (recording with the group during 1947-49 and on their albums from 1957 and 1959), played tuba with Turk Murphy in the early 1950s, and sometimes working with the Firehouse Five Plus Two, recording with the popular band during 1956-57 and 1969.
Bruns occasionally led a similar group to the Firehouse Five which he called the Wonderland Jazz Band. They accompanied Cliff Edwards in 1956’s Ukulele Ike Sings Again record and on Mar. 25, 1957, made their own album, Deep In The Heart Of Dixieland, for the Disneyland Records label. That music has never been reissued on CD.
Bruns, who was a fluent trombonist, is joined by trumpeter Don Kinch, clarinetist George Probert, pianist Marvin Ash, banjoist Red Roundtree, bassist Ray Leatherwood, and drummer Nick Fatool. Their repertoire is comprised mostly of Dixieland standards plus “Wedding Bells Are Breaking Up That Gang Of Mine” and Bruns’ joyful “That Happy Rag.” The music is fun, full of spirit and well played with the band romping on such numbers as “Kansas City Stomp,” “Struttin’ With Some Barbecue,” “Ory’s Creole Trombone,” and “Come Back Sweet Papa.” More than 65 years, the music of the Wonderland Jazz Band will still make listeners smile.
George Bruns
Deep In The Heart Of Dixieland
Disneyland WDL-3009
Since 1975 Scott Yanow has been a regular reviewer of albums in many jazz styles. He has written for many jazz and arts magazines, including JazzTimes, Jazziz, Down Beat, Cadence, CODA, and the Los Angeles Jazz Scene, and was the jazz editor for Record Review. He has written an in-depth biography on Dizzy Gillespie for AllMusic.com. He has authored 11 books on jazz, over 900 liner notes for CDs and over 20,000 reviews of jazz recordings.
Yanow was a contributor to and co-editor of the third edition of the All Music Guide to Jazz. He continues to write for Downbeat, Jazziz, the Los Angeles Jazz Scene, the Jazz Rag, the New York City Jazz Record and other publications.
