Ectoplasm: The Raymond Scott Quintet 1948-1949

''Includes distinctive arrangements of standards, as well as Scott originals with eccentric titles, and I found them delightful to listen to.''
- Leonard Maltin

This is the first-ever CD presenting Raymond Scott's second Quintet, whose brief existence spanned 1948-49. Like its groundbreaking 1937-39 predecessor chronicled on 2003's Microphone Music, this "quintet" had six members, but unlike the original RSQ, this band didn't create music destined for cartoons.

The 1948-49 band sounds like classic Raymond Scott, but it did not resort to a nostalgic aping of the first RSQ. The usual Scott trademarks abound: wit, sophistication, and a touch of eccentricity. The style could be termed "parlor jazz," or "chamber swing" - breezy and cerebral. Like the first, the second RSQ is complex and hyperactive, with an undercurrent of wry mischief, befitting the band's namesake. Both RSQ's were known for swirling horns, muted trumpet, and daredevil tempos.

On a compositional level, Scott had moved away from his quirky novelties of the late 1930s and progressed in a more challenging direction. The unusual album title refers to a spooky Scott musical portrait of a "voice from the beyond." Other Scott originals on the album are "Street Corner in Paris," "Snake Woman," "Bird Life in the Bronx," "Good Listening," "Curley Cue," and "Question Mark." In addition, Scott goes lunar with his visionary opus "Dedicatory Piece to the Crew and Passengers of the First Experimental Rocket Express to the Moon."

The album includes jazzed-up arrangements of the light classics "Humoresque" and "Song of India," and over a dozen Tin Pan Alley standards which clock in at less than two minutes each. These miniatures - including such standards as "Blue Skies," "I'll See You in My Dreams," and "How High the Moon" - were intended as radio program interludes, and demonstrate Scott's skill as an editor, distilling the essence of these songs in compressed form. Tunes like "Honeysuckle Rose," and "You're the Cream in My Coffee" were dolled up to affirm Scott's musical identity, with their melodic integrity respectfully upheld - Scott was a composer, and thus an appreciative student of songcraft. He seemed to prefer jazz in service to composition, rather than the other way around. That said, he took his share of liberties as a composer by integrating original intros and bridges that re-invent these relics with an unmistakable Scott spirit.

The occasional seventh 'Q' member is young vocalist Dorothy Collins, whose sound is shaped by Scott, her musical mentor (and later husband). Dorothy croons wordless vocals on several numbers, in which her voice sounds eerily like a theremin.

The Ectoplasm album cover features an adapted 1951 illustration by legendary LP artist Jim Flora. In the late 1940s, Flora (1914-1998) launched a legacy by illustrating bizarre, cartoonish jazz album covers for Columbia, and he did the same for RCA Victor during the 1950s.

The collection was produced by Raymond Scott archives director Irwin Chusid, who also wrote the liner notes. The project was developed with solid assistance from Beau Hunks leader and Scott authority Gert-Jan Blom, and the package was beautifully designed by noted Dutch art director Piet Schreuders.