Reginald Kell, ANOTHER surprise for us!

[Lance]

The British record label Clarinet Classics has just issued a Reginald Kell recording [CC 0049, ADD, 73:59]. The album's title is "Swing Low Sweet Clarinet" and features Mr. Kell and "His Quiet Music." The disc includes 24 tracks of which several are replicated on the new 6-CD Deutsche Grammophon issue of all of Kell's American Decca recordings [DGG 477.5280 also mentioned on this board elsewhere].

On the Clarinet Classics disc are two BBC acetate recordings that I don't believe have ever been issued before: [1] R. C. Raybould's "The Wistful Shepherd," and [2] G. H. Clutsam's "Ma Curly Headed Baby," both recorded on January 19th, 1942. The surprise is that track 24 features the celebrated British oboist Léon Goossens with the BBC Salon Orchestra under L. Bridgewater. I can't think of Mr. Goossens performing any other popular type music where his wonderful oboe tone comes to life like it does in the classic works he has recorded. Indeed, to find him in this kind of repertoire illustrates another side of the great artist. Both these tracks, of course, also feature Reginald Kell. This is the kind of release that could go by the wayside by would-be purchases because of their feeling all the tracks are within the DG set. They aren't.

Those two tracks are worth the price of the disc itself. Further, there are wonderful, revealing notes by Stephen Trier, originator of this CD and a friend and fellow clarinetist of Kell's who died on October 3rd, 1999 shortly after writing the original notes about Kell in 1998. Further, Malcolm McMillan, the other originator of this CD, writes additional notes about Stephen Trier. Now, if McMillan himself passes, there's nobody to write notes about him, so we'll keep our fingers crossed that he will be around a while.

The 24 tracks on the present disc includes music by Mourant, Raybould, Kreisler, Debussy, Stephen Foster (Some Folks Do, Gentle Annie), Robinson, Yradier, A. F. Harrison, Balfe, R. Porter-Brown, and Clutsam.