Word: bandstand
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Often enough Powell did need help with that; still, the music could dazzle. The way McLean recalls it in the notes that accompany the elegantly packaged Verve set, Charlie Parker "got used to being king of the hill. But when he stepped on the bandstand with Bud, he wasn't king of the hill anymore, because Bud was going to give him back as much as he got." And that, of course, was near as good as it ever gets...
...nature jazz depends upon a collective effort. Williams took as risk putting this many headliners on the same bandstand. Any of them, especially Watson, could have stolen the spotlight. But no one did. It is a tribute to Williams' command as a subtle leader among team players that this chemistry worked. The musicians knew it. The audience knew it. And Williams knew it, even if he was too modest to admit...
...black-frame specs and frequent beret became prototypical hepcat mufti. His voice, which sounded like a thunderclap wanting to purr, could be heard on cool novelties like Swing Low, Sweet Cadillac. His cheeks expanded so far past normal size when he played his horn that he looked, on the bandstand, as if he were on exhibit in an aquarium...
Back Then is a nice place to visit; its anachronisms beguile you. Ten cuts, 10 hit singles on the Bandstand chart. Ten studiously simple tunes with instantly memorable hooks. Brevity used to be the soul of rock; one of these songs runs just 2 min. 45 sec., and most of the others are longer only because they repeat their choruses exactly as many times as you want to hear them. Best of all, no drum solos; the world's most famous percussionist was always a modest gent. Here he jollies things along with his tentative voice and 4/4 pummeling...
...fact, was part of his whole charming, overreaching package, which is welcomely represented on two Atlantic CDs called The Best of Bobby Darin (Splish Splash and Mack the Knife). Mack, of course, became Darin's signature song, making him equally at home in supper clubs and on American Bandstand. He went to Hollywood, made movies, played Vegas and laid down some exceptional, swinging sides, but after Mack, consistent success was as elusive as a single, solid performing style. He died, far from a superstar, in 1973. The new CDs prove that his pop singing, had it not been eclipsed...