Ray Conniff

Generally ignored by his label, Sony ex-Columbia, in the digital era, the Collectables label has discovered that Conniff has a niche market, and are reissuing everything of his for which they can gain clearances; this disc combines Concert in Rhythm, Vol. 2 (1961) with The Perfect 10 Classics (1980). Conniff was a big fan of classical music and naturally would not avoid taking on the classics as he did nearly any other kind of well-known music. Concert in Rhythm, Vol. 2 was a follow-up to Conniff's hugely successful 1958 album Concert in Rhythm, but it does not represent him at his best, nor even at his most characteristic. Several of the pieces are referred to as "Improvisation on [put name of classical work here]," but these are not improvisations in the usual sense. This designation stems from the fact that these interpretations began with a single-line improvisation on the trombone, using the classical melody as its basis, which Conniff then fills out for his whole ensemble -- as with most things Conniff, it is an imaginative and practical idea.

However, classical music, apart from fast allegros in Mozart symphonies and, say, the Prokofiev Toccata -- is heavily invested in music that has some degree of melodic flexibility, and this is at cross-purposes with Conniff's arranging style, which relies on the constant, "happy" beat. In order to synchronize the foxtrot rhythm to the melody, Conniff has to slow the tune, or parts of it, down, usually at a value of half the original, but in some places as slow as three times. The ear, already familiar with the tune, cannot help but become impatient; please Mr. Conniff, pick up the pace. The situation is even worse with The Perfect 10 Classics, a cynical attempt to cash in on the popularity of the movie 10 that's not even very proficiently played, apart from long-suffering piano soloist Ralph Grierson, whose name doesn't even get spelled right in the liner notes; this album is way below Conniff's usual standard.

There are three classes of Ray Conniff albums; the first being generally early albums like 'S Wonderful! (1955) and 'S Awful Nice (1958), of which every track is prime Conniff. The second, which accounts for most of his output, consists of albums that have a few tracks here and there that are outstanding, whereas the rest are merely mediocre. These two belong to the third and smallest class among Ray Conniff's enormous output, albums that are conceptually defective which contain nothing particularly good and, true to Conniff's homogenous vision and working methods, are consistent in this regard. ~ Uncle Dave Lewis, All Music Guide