Albert Marx: Discovery Records – Part 1

The Phil Moore Masters

    Albert Marx acquired a working knowledge of all aspects of record production during his years with Brunswick and Musicraft, sufficient know-how to establish his own company. However the demise of these two major independent labels hinted at the precarious nature of the record business as the source of a stable income and long-term employment. 

    Musicraft was undergoing a refinancing plan at the start of 1947 and the upheaval portended a major reshuffling of management and production positions.¹ Marx tendered his resignation as head of A&R with Musicraft in March of 1947 and left for California. A notice in The Billboard stated that Marx planned to enter the personnel management business but declined to name specific artists in his talent roster.²

    Word of Marx’s arrival spread in the Los Angeles music community. He received a phone call from Phil Moore who wanted to meet and discuss music. Moore had learned that Marx wished to resume producing records in an A&R capacity and suggested that Marx consider forming his own label. Marx demurred, explaining that he knew the work required for such a venture and the staffing needed. Moore offered that he knew a young man that he had confidence in who would be perfect to assist in launching a new label and sharing the work load. Moore arranged a meeting between Marx and Dick Bock who was working at Wallich’s Music City. The pair hit it off and Marx now had an eager assistant willing to learn the record business. Moore also shared that he had several master recordings that he had shopped around Hollywood to majors like RCA Victor and Columbia who passed on the recordings saying they did not have commercial appeal.³ 

    Moore returned to Los Angeles after spending time in New York in 1945/46 where he had recorded with RCA Victor, the first Black artist to record for the label following the Petrillo ban.⁴ After leaving RCA Victor he recorded several sides for Musicraft.⁵ Moore resumed recording with a variety of combos for Black & White Records and assumed A&R responsibilities for the label in April 1946 after the departure of Ralph Bass.⁶ He also maintained an active performance schedule with a variety of talented sidemen including Ernie Royal, Marshall Royal, Ernie Sheppard, Bob Baine, Gerald Wilson, Red Callender, and Lee Young among others.

    A notice in The Capitol News announced that in addition to his active performance and recording schedule Moore was busy composing several works that integrate jazz and European classical motifs. The “serious” works included a piano concerto and a concerto for trombone that Moore planned to premiere in the fall.

“Ambitious isn’t the word for Phil Moore, Oregon-born pianist, arranger, composer and conductor, who has made his home in Hollywood for several years. Moore, a former MGM staffer and Lena Horne accompanist, has been drawing fine notices with his new small combo which has successively played the Bocage and, more recently, the Rounders Club in Hollywood with Ernie Royal, Red Callender, Lee Young and other topnotch sidemen. But on the side, he’s been busy composing several “serious” works, including a piano concerto and a concerto for trombone which Murray McEachern and a symphony orchestra will premiere later this year. Before turning to Hollywood, Phil worked as arranger with a half-dozen | name bands. Now he’s combining jazz , and the classical idioms as few musicians have ever attempted to do.”⁷

    Phil Moore’s Symphony of Jazz concert was presented at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium on October 14, 1947. The “Piano Concerto” featured Calvin Jackson and the “Concerto for Trombone” showcased Murray McEachern. The concert program featured a constellation of the brightest musical stars including Neil Hefti, Woody Herman, Tommy Todd, Peggy Lee, and Dave Barbour in a varied musical program. Four prominent disc-jockies acted as emcees: Bill Anson, Martin Block, Alex Cooper, and Gene Norman. 

    The combined jazz and classical orchestra members included: Dan Lube (Concertmaster), Joe Shaftel, Leonard Malarsky, Ben Gill, Jack Schulman, Arnold Surasky, Louis Sarli, Ralph Schaeffer, Jimmy Getzoff, Roxy Roth, violins; Louis Kievman, Abe Hochstein, Garry Nuttycombe, violas; Joe Saxon, Maurice Amsteredam, cello; Alton Hendrickson, guitar; Nancy McDonald, harp; Arthur Shapiro, Red Callender, bass; Gerald Wilson, Ernie Royal, Ray Linn, trumpet; Henry Coker, Trummy Young, Benny Benson, Murray McEachern, trombone; Marshall Royal, alto saxophone; Charles Jones, Lucky Thompson, tenor saxophone, Gene Porter, Harry Klee, baritone saxophone; Paul McLarand, flute; Eugene Lehrman, bassoon; Harry Schuchman, English horn; William Culley, Gale Robinson, Berton Downey, French horn; Jimmy Rowles, piano; Lee Young, Lee Perrin, drums; Bernie Halpert, orchestra manager; and Phil Moore, conductor.

500 Applaud Jazz Symphony

    “The 500 persons who attended the debut performance of Phil Moore’s “Symphony of Jazz” last night at Civic Auditorium made up for the lack of audience by applauding as lustily as though they were 3000. 

    With such a “galaxy” of stars present, tis hard to understand why the turnout was so poor, especially considering that the show was a benefit for the Damon Runyon Cancer Fund. 

    Most applause went to Songstress Peggy Lee and the Dave Barbour Trio, and to the first performance of Moore’s Piano Concerto, played expertly by Calvin Johnson; and to the West Coast premiere of Trombone Concerto, also by Moore, and performed by that pastmaster, Murray McEachern. 

    Woody Herman, “The Old Wood-chopper,” scored with his clarinet and as conductor of the orchestra. Others in the show were Alex Cooper, Bill Anson, Gene Norman, Martin Block, Bill Gillette, Neil Hefti, Frances Wayne and the Smart Set, and Dr. Samuel J. Hoffman (playing “Music Out of the Moon” on the theremin.”⁸

    Moore was encouraged by the positive response to his compositions at Pasadena and contacted Radio Recorders to schedule a series of sessions to record his works. Moore’s “popular” efforts at composing like “Shoo-Shoo Baby” had accumulated sizable royalties, enough to bankroll the considerable expense of hiring musicians and purchasing recording studio time. Moore hoped to place some of his works with a major record label and arranged to have multiple acetate dubbings made of the master discs from the sessions. 

    AFM contracts were not executed for the sessions as Moore did not possess a recording license. Hence detailed information regarding the musicians employed by Moore is not available other than the few highlighted in liner notes when these compositions were first issued by Discovery Records. Most, if not all, of the musicians who played the Pasadena concert were probably engaged for the recordings.

    Three sessions were scheduled at Radio Recorders at the end of October 1947. The first session on October 26, 1947, was held in studio “B” from 12:30 to 3:45 and resumed at 5:15 to 9:30 p.m.⁹ The second session on October 27^th was also in studio “B” from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.¹⁰ The third session on October 28^th was also in studio “B” from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.¹¹ The invoice noted that this last session involved piano and dubbing. No details noted on the other sessions.

   Three additional sessions were scheduled in December. The session on December 7^th took place in studio “B” from 1:45 to 6:00 p.m. and noted 2B-X, TC-1, TC-2, and PC-4.¹² The latter three notes might have referenced parts of the piano and trombone concertos? The December 20^th session took place in studio “A” from 1:00 to 5:30 p.m. and noted TK-3, 1, 3-2, 3-3 The Prophet.¹³ A third session on December 28^th noted that the 6:00 to 9:30 p.m. in studio “A” was devoted to Calvin Jackson with the following parts noted: PIANO INSERT FOR TACCNTO, PIANO INSERT FOR TACCNTO END, I CAN’T GET STARTED WITH YOU, LOVER, LADY BE GOOD, CHOPIN – C SHARP MINOR. TACCNTO (also TACCATO) was the studio shorthand used to identify MC-107 – “Fugue For Barroom Piano.”¹⁴ A statement from Radio Recorders to Phil Moore listed a fourth recording session 12/17/47 invoice 97818 in the amount of $376.19. The detailed invoice was not among the papers in the Phil Moore archive at Indiana University.¹⁵ Radio Recorders invoices were prepared a day or two following the recording session.

    Phil Moore assigned an “MC” prefix to the masters produced in October and December. MC-101 Piano Concerto – Part I, MC-102 Piano Concerto – Part II, MC-103 Piano Concerto – Part III, MC-104 Piano Concerto – Part IV, MC-105 Concerto for Trombone – Part I, MC-106 Concerto for Trombone – Part II, MC-107 Fugue for Barroom Piano, MC-108 Misty Moon, MC-109 Day Dream, MC-110 125^TH Street Prophet, and MC-111 Cornucopia.

    The Calvin Jackson solo piano pieces continued the series: MC-112 I Can’t Get Started, MC-113 Lover, MC-114 Prelude in “C” Sharp Minor, MC-115 Blue Skies, MC-116 Laura, MC-117 Gershwin Prelude, MC-118 Blues in the Night, and MC-119 Lady Be Good.

    Six of the Calvin Jackson solo piano pieces were released on three 78 rpm singles. “Laura” and “Blue Skies” were released on Discovery 110, “Lover” and “Lady Be Good” on Discovery 111, and “I Can’t Get Started” and “Prelude in “C” Sharp Minor” on Discovery 112. The three singles were also released as an album, Tonal Expressions – Calvin Jackson, M-13.

When Discovery Records launched their 10″ LP series the Calvin Jackson solo piano works were reissued as DL 3001. The LP format allowed the inclusion of two addition pieces, MC-117 Gershwin Prelude and MC-118 Blues in the Night.

    The “Concerto for Trombone” was one of the first releases on Discovery Records as a 12-inch 78 rpm record. The paper jacket included a brief introduction to the work. The string section accompanying these masters was not named on any Discovery releases, but most likely included many of the musicians who performed at the Pasadena Civic concert on October 14^th.

    Four of the masters were released on two 10-inch 78 rpm singles. “125^TH St Prophet” (MC-110) and “Cornucopia” (MC-111) were released on Discovery 100. “Fugue for Barroom Piano” (MC-107) and “Misty Moon” (MC-108) were released on Discovery 101. A fifth master, MC-109 “Day Dream” was released on one side of Discovery 114, a 78 rpm single. The labels identified major soloists on the works.

    Release of Moore’s other major opus from the October sessions, “Concerto for Piano” with Calvin Jackson, was released along with the reissue of four the above compositions as part of a 12-inch long playing LP on Discovery Records, Modern Classics, DL 4001. Initial releases of DL 4001 used a heavier paper jacket with a graphic design that highlighted the “Concerto for Piano” and other selections. The reverse side of the jacket supplied detailed commentary on the compositions.

The second LP version of DL 4001 was produced using a sturdy cardboard jacket and new cover graphics. The liner notes were identical to the previous paper jacket release plus a photo insert of Phil Moore. The new graphic cover was designed by an artist who had won a competition for a new art cover for a second LP release of “Fantasy for Girl and Orchestra.”

Papillon Star Appears In December Concert

    “Phil Moore, one of the musical features of “A Song Is Born” and currently at Felix Young’s, will give a concert at the L.A. Philharmonic, in December, with his 52 piece progressive symphonic jazz orchestra. The concert will feature a Concerto for Voice and Orchestra, marking the first time the concerto form has been used for voice.”¹⁶

A newspaper search to verify that Moore’s Concerto for Voice and Orchestra took place in December was not successful. Nonetheless, Moore booked studio time with Radio Recorders in January 1948 to record his “Fantasy for Girl and Orchestra.”

Part #1 was recorded on January 5, 1948, from 10:00 a.m to 1:00 p.m. and resumed at 2:00 till 6:00 p.m. for seven hours, no studio location was noted. Part #2 was recorded on January 6th from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. Part 3# was recorded on January 7th from 10:30 a.m. till 1:00 p.m.¹⁷ The three sessions captured instrumental versions of the concerto. A fourth session on January 26, 1948, dubbed the voice of Annette Warren reciting the vocal parts of the concert in studio “B” from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.¹⁸ Phil Moore assigned MC-130-2, MC-131-2, and MC-132-2 to the three parts of the concerto (evidently take 2 was the best in all three). A fourth master number was identified on the invoice, MC-133-3, that may have been Warren’s vocal part only, captured as it was dubbed to the instrumental parts.

    Phil Moore’s “Fantasy for Girl and Orchestra” was the first album released by Discovery Records, DM-10. The album consisted of two 12-inch 78 rpm discs. Disc one, side A, presented Fantasy Part One and side B presented Fantasy Part Two. Disc two presented Fantasy Part Three on side A and Duke Ellington’s “Day Dream” on side B featuring Dan Lube’s violin and the Phil Moore jazz orchestra and strings.

   The second release of “Fantasy for Girl and Orchestra” as Discovery DL 4002 used a heavier paper jacket similar to the one used for DL 4001. The reverse side of the jacket supplied detailed commentary on the compositions. Discovery DL 4002 presented “Fantasy for Girl and Orchestra” as the first track on side A combining all three parts as a continuous track. The balance of side A included a reissue of “Fugue for Barroom Piano” and the first release of Calvin Jackson’s “Gershwin Prelude.” Side B presented more works for solo piano featuring Calvin Jackson, six had been released previously as 78 rpm singles and Discovery 78 album M-13 plus the first release of “Blues in the Night.”

The LP sold well and the second LP reissue featured a sturdy cardboard jacket with an “art cover” by Chris Kealey that was selected during a competition where artists were encouraged to submit their graphic interpretation of the musical work. Kealey continued to produce original artwork for future releases on Discovery Records.

I would like to extend sincere thanks to Cynthia Sesso and Paul de Barros for their assistance in this research. Thanks also to Richard Markowitz and Karl Miller who answered my queries to online forums. Details of Phil Moore’s recording activity is now known thanks to the archivists at the Phil Moore Archive at Indiana University and the Black Film Center & Archive who have generously provided documents and audio files that verify Moore’s activity at Radio Recorders. Many of the images that enhance this research were from the William Emery collection. Lastly, a special thanks to the Special Collections staff at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

1. The Billboard, February 22, 1947, pg 16. ↩︎
2. The Billboard, May 10, 1947, pg 36. ↩︎
3. Will Thornbury / Albert Marx interview, June 22, 1981, UNT. ↩︎
4. New York Age, January 13m 1945, pg 10. ↩︎
5. California Eagle, December 13, 1945, pg 17. ↩︎
6. New York Age, May 24, 1947, pg 12. ↩︎
7. The Capitol News, Vol 5 No 9, September 1947, pg 8. ↩︎
8. Pasadena Star News, October 15, 1947 pg 32. ↩︎
9. Radio Recorders invoice 95415, October 26, 1947. ↩︎
10. Radio Recorders invoice 95418, October 27, 1947. ↩︎
11. Radio Recorders invoice 95235, October 28, 1947. ↩︎
12. Radio Recorders invoice 97124, December 7, 1947. ↩︎
13. Radio Recorders invoice 97985, December 20, 1947. ↩︎
14. Radio Recorders invoice 98315, December 28, 1947. ↩︎
15. Radio Recorders statement, Phil Moore, $850.96. ↩︎
16. California Eagle, November 6, 1947, pg 12. ↩︎
17. Radio Recorders invoices 98365, 98739, January 12, 1948. ↩︎
18. Radio Recorders invoice 98975-A, January 31, 1948. ↩︎