Gary Lucas' Fleischerei - 2016 - Music from Max Fleischer Cartoons

(43:17; Cuneiform Records)

In 1929, brothers Max Fleischer and Dave Fleischer opened their animation studios, competing with Walt Disney. They had major success with various characters, including Koko the Clown, Betty Boop, Bimbo, Popeye the Sailor, and Superman, with Mae Questel becoming known especially for voicing Betty Boop and Olive Oyl (Popeye’s girlfriend in case you are a heathen and have no idea who that is). Gary Lucas and trombonist/arranger Joe Fiedler had discussed releasing an album in homage to those days some years back, but it was only in 2016 that it came to fruition, with Fiedler being convinced to craft zingy, kinetic, and historically grounded arrangements for singer Sarah Stiles, who has managed to capture that innocent and slightly strange way of singing we all associate with Betty.

Finding Sarah was the hard part, as Fiedler soon managed to get the right musicians in Jeff Lederer (sax), Michael Bates (bass) and drummer Rob Garcia to combine with himself and Gary. These days most people think of Betty Boop as a character who appears on all types of merchandise, but back in the Thirties there were a series of top songwriters ensuring they were providing material for Betty to have hits with, with “When We're Alone (Penthouse Serenade)” being one of the ones which was a major success.

Of course, that is included on this set, and the only way to describe this is as absolutely delightful. There has been no attempt to update the material whatsoever, and instead what we have are arrangements which sound as if they could have been created 90 years ago, with a band that can kick (“The Music Goes Round and Round”) or restrain themselves do that Sarah can do her best impressions. It really does sound as if Mae Questel has come back to life, and we are listening to classic recordings which somehow have been created with modern production. There is a naivety and simple joy on this recording, and I was somewhat surprised at to how much I found myself smiling while playing it. This is a complete success, from beginning to end, and anyone who enjoys the old cartoons or pre-war jazz need to seek this out.

Kev Rowland, November 2021

Links:
http://www.garylucas.com/
http://www.cuneiformrecords.com/