Posted on 03/03/2019 3:59:06 PM PST by Twotone
...In the pithy summation of Terry Teachout, Alec Wilder "spent his life looking for cracks to fall through". Back in the days when we still had record stores, he didn't quite fit the pop bins or the classical bins or the jazz bins. Which is why, if you're hung up on categorization, it's easier to leave him out of the store altogether. As he himself acknowledged, his compositions "were gunned down by the jazz boys because they had a classical flavor, and they were gunned down by the classical boys because they had a jazz flavor."
Still, discriminating persons at each end love Alec Wilder. To give you a sense of his range, I rummaged through my record collection and here's a random dozen of the many albums containing Wilder's music:
The Very Best Of Dinah Washington: Dinah Washington Music For Winds And Brass: The Lawrence University Wind Ensemble conducted by Robert Levy and by Gunther Schuller Hi De Ho Man: Cab Calloway Folk Buddha's Path To Enlightenment: The Berea Castoffs Percy Faith Plays Romantic Music: Percy Faith and his Orchestra C.K.: Chaka Khan I Dreamt I Dwelt In Harlem: The Delta Rhythm Boys Neurotic Goldfish: The Manhattan Chamber Orchestra conducted by Richard Auldon Clark When I'm Alone I Cry: Marvin Gaye An American And Paris: The New York Woodwind Quintet Swinging In A Latin Mood: George Shearing Engelbert Swings For Lovers: Engelbert Humperdinck
...plus of course:
Frank Sinatra Conducts The Music Of Alec Wilder: The Columbia String Orchestra conducted by Frank Sinatra
- which is a great Sinatra album, and he doesn't sing a note on it.
Alec Wilder was born in 1907 into a prosperous and prominent banking family from Rochester. And, for contemporary residents who've never heard of the guy...
(Excerpt) Read more at steynonline.com ...
I love Mark Steyn. And now I know Alec Wilder.
Stein does a nice job telling Alec Wilder’s story, but it felt like I was reading an infomercial.
This is called having encyclopedic knowledge of your subject.
LOVE IT!!!
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