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Dick Schory-Hi-fi and Space Age Pop Percussion Pioneer

pap4456 18 October 2008

For some background information on Dick Schory, please go to this link: http://www.myspace.com/dickschory

There is a music player on there with some tracks from an LP entitled "Wild Percussion and Horns a-Plenty." Check out the tune "Chimed, I'm Sure", which features a really cool bluesy chimes solo, probably played by Bobby Christian, one of Schory's featured percussionists.

Also, it is not generally known, but a very young Gary Burton apparently got started recording and touring with Schory and his Percussion Pops Orchestra. Burton is on the LPs Politely Percussive, Dick Schory on Tour, and Supercussion, all on the RCA Victor label. He is also on the 2 LP set Dick Schory at Carnegie Hall, recorded live in 1970. He is featured playing his original piece, Sunset Bell, along with Steve Swallow on acoustic bass. Also on the album is Paul Horn playing Gentle Rain on alto flute, backed by acoustic guitar, bass and drums, and Joe Morello, another frequent Schory collaborator, performing Concerto for Jazz Drums and Orchestra, composed by Chris Swanson and performed flawlessly by Joe and the twenty-piece Percussion Pops Orchestra. The aforementioned LP is on the Ovation label, as is the LP Movin' On, and Burton is featured on several pieces. In all the literature and articles I've read on Gary Burton over the years, he never mentions his association with Schory, for whatever reasons.

Schory albums can be found on www.memorylanerecords.com. I ordered replacements for all of my Schory albums several years ago and they were reasonably priced and in great shape. The late 50's album, "Bang, Baaroom and Harp" has been reissued on CD.

For more information on Bobby Christian, check out http://bobbychristian.com/, an excellent tribute site to another percussion pioneer and collaborator with Dick Schory.

For all you percussion geeks out there, check this stuff out! A bit of percussion history, just for you!

Comments

pap4456 Sat, 10/18/2008 - 16:05

Yeah---see this was the stuff I was listening to as a kid. That, plus the Persuasive and Provocative Percussion series of recordings on Command Records produced by Enoch Light in the sixties. This was also hi-fi percussion at its greatest. They were all done in New York and featured guys like Phil Kraus, Bobby Rosengarden, Terry Snyder, Willie Rodriguez and the cream of the crop of NYC studio players at that time. I will put a future post up on that in the near future.

Yeah that chimes solo is cool. Like I said I think it was played by Bobby Christian.

John Keene Sat, 10/18/2008 - 21:09

I have an album in my late mother's record collection called "Perspectives in Percussion" and it's one of those Command Records-type theme album deals. I have to cop to those type of records as being "guilty pleasures" and I've actually booked myself on a couple of Hawaiian music gigs playing Arthur Lyman tunes. Not that often, but enough times to make it work.

pap4456 Sat, 10/18/2008 - 22:03

I have two of those--I think they were on the Somerset Label. They were done with an all-star West Coast studio band with guys like Conrad Gozzo, Paul Horn, Jimmy Rowles, Irv Cottler and percussionists Larry Bunker, Dale Anderson and Milt Holland with arrangements by Skip Martin. They were good, as were the Command series, but the Schory LPs were my favorites. I still pull them out from time to time.

BarryK Sun, 10/19/2008 - 02:11

I picked up a few of these at flea markets. I recorded them into my computer and converted them to MP3 and listen to them all the time. Cool stuff.

I wanted to see if there were CD versions. Some were released a while back and are now selling for $80 to $200 on CD.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B0000014X6/ref=dp_olp_used?ie=UT…

Check out flea markets for used LPs. I have found some really cool stuff there, which were never released on CD.

Barry

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