Born in New York City, December 26, 1921, Allen was interested in music as a youth ; however, he is self — taught and is still unable to read music, except for guitar parts. Not that he is a guitarist, he hastens to point out, but the guitar parts always contain the names of the chords, which is all that any truly hip musician needs for improvisation purposes. Steve learned enough piano to play udd jobs on Saturday nights while he was studying at Drake University. It was not until he had spent several years as a successful disc jockey in Los Angeles that he returned to his native metropolis in 1951 to become nationally famous as a TV comedian. Some months ago, the urge to demonstrate his affection for jazz with further positive action found its outlet when Steve staged this all-star jazz concert at Manhattan Center, a high-roofed and capacicus hall on West 34th Street that proved acoustically ideal for a record jam session. Steve's jazz tastes extend to every school, old and new. On this particular occasion his aim was to get some of the finest musicians asso- ciated with the Dixieland school and to put them on the stand in front of a large and enthusiastic audience of fans who had learned about the affair when he talked about it on the air.
(From the original Liner Notes)
Steve Allen
All Star Jazz Concert
Tracks
Lp 1
1 I Want to be Happy (Youmans, Caesar) 8:03
2 Sweet Georgia Brown (Bernie, Pinkard, Casey) 8:19
3 Big Noise From Winnetka (Rodin, Crosby, Haggart, Bauduc) 3:41
4 Love Me or Leave Me (Kahn, Donaldson) 2:26
5 Swing That Music (Armstrong, Gerlach) 7:20
6 Big Town Boogie (Allen) 2:58
7 That's a Plenty (Pollack, Gilbert) 3:36
8 Long Gone (Handy, Smith) 3:07
9 I Can't Get Started (Duke, Gershwin) 4:03
*
Lp 2
1 When The Saints Go Marching in (McKinley, Butterfield) 3:08
2 Blues (coll.) 9:57
3 Basin Street Blues (Williams) 3:06
4 Lover (Rodgers, Hart) 5:03
5 At Sundown (Donaldson) 3:24
6 St. James Infirmary (Primrose) 4:39
7 Whistling Cow Blues (Haggart) 4:58
8 The Only Man Blues (Syms) 2:59
9 South Rampart Street Parade (Haggart, Bauduc) 4:27
*
Personnel
[Lp 1, # 1-4] Lawson-Haggart Jazz Band
Yank Lawson - tp
Bill Stegemeyer - cl
Lou McGarrity - tb & vcl [Lp 2, # 1]
George Barnes - g
Lou Stein - p
Bob Haggart - b
Cliff Leeman - dr
[Lp 1, # 5-9 ; Lp 2, # 3, 4 & 8] Billy Butterfield Jazz Band with Ray McKinley
Billy Butterfield - tp
Robert Cutshall - tb
Sylvia Syms - vcl [Lp 2, # 7]
Jack Lesberg - b
Ray McKinley - dr & vcl [Lp 2, # 3]
[Lp 2, # 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, & 9]
Combined Jazz Bands of Lawson-Haggart & Billy Butterfield
Recorded at the Manhattan Center, New York ; May 8, 1954