Cartoon Logic

Raymond Scott: his music is eternal. Here's the Cartoon Logic band, run by Jeff Sanford (he's on sax and clarinet). Most of these tracks (1, 3, 5, 8, 9, 10, 12) are Raymond Scott compositions. Weird, novelty jazz from the '30s (and beyond), it's the kind of crazy, ultra-composed, unusual, music that proved great for cartoons (as arranged by Carl Stalling), and is still fresh today. Sanford's bands (some of the tracks are with a septet, some are with a bigger band) have a ton of craft, and the new takes on these pieces (some classics, some more obscure) give them a fresh life. Really, really cool stuff.
RIYL: Raymond Scott, John Kirby, Beau Hunks, Metropole Orchestra, Duke Ellington, Jelly Roll Morton

1. (4:30) ***** Spiraling, hypnotic, swift, tight arrangement (similar to early Ellington), drifts into trombone solos and more...
2. (2:35) VOX. Louis Jordan jump blues song. Goofy vocals.
3. (3:43) **** Delicate and bouncy. Slow and sinuous snaky brass.
4. (3:00) *** Elegant, high-brass rich-sounding complex harmonies, graceful piano, with exotic beats.
5. (4:55) * Syncopated, percolating brass. Bouncy as hell, somewhat etheral.
6. (3:15) VOX. Another chicken vocal. Not bad novelty swing/jump blues, but I vastly prefer the instrumentals.
7. (8:30) **** Dreamy flute solo into swank lush dance. Slow and hypnotic, flute winds everywhere...
8. (2:42) *** Chirpy woodwinds trilling and blipping.
9. (3:13) ** A Raymond Scott classic. Sleighbells, glassy melodies like wind. Gets hectic and brassy.
10. (3:59) *** Small-group jiving, with some pretty hot solos.
11. (4:08) **** Jelly Roll Morton dixieland tune. March time, breaks into slow stop-time portion in middle. Cool banjo solo.
12. (2:42) * More of a hep '40s big band number, with brass solos.
13: (3:20) SECRET BONUS TRACK (doesn't get going until 30 seconds in...) Barnacle Bill the sailor, another Louis Jordan classic with crazy falsettos and other voices. Cueing this may be a pain, but it's fun, with good solos...