When I was a boy in the late 40’s and early 50’s, 
I was always bugging dad to let me go with him to the band rehearsals at the Hollywood Palladium. 
 
The rehearsals were to go over the new arrangements that the band would be playing that night. I loved the excitement of hearing the guys warming up and horsing around with each other and being in that huge ballroom when no one was there, knowing that I would be hearing new arrangements before anyone else had heard them.
  

 
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Dad would call the band to order and the arrangers, usually Frank Comstock and Skippy Martin, would hand out the newly copied parts, and give the score to dad who would ask about the tempo and then he would kick it off. As the band played it for the first time, dad would be studying the score intensely. After the first run through, they would check for any mistakes in the copying (wrong notes, etc.) and then they would run through it again, this time for phrasing and dynamics and fine tuning the solos. All this was done under the careful eye of my dad whose musicianship was clearly respected by all the players in the band. Some fifty odd years have past since then and dad is still enthusiastically infusing his impeccable taste and musicianship into every arrangement the band plays.
 
Some of the arrangements on this C.D. were written in the 40’s and 50’s and some were written for this project in the year 2000, but all were written by the masters who have given the Band of Renown its distinctive sound and style over the past five decades. 
 
Frank Comstock, who has been arranging for this band since the early 1940’s and has created most of the band’s concert and semi classical charts. 
 
Bob Higgins, who not only played in the trumpet section in the 40’s but also wrote such arrangements as "High On A Windy Trumpet" and "Lovers Leap" that first brought recognition to the band. 
 
Van Alexander, a life long friend of Les and creator of many great swing arrangements including "A Tisket, A Tasket" for Ella Fitzgerald and Chick Webb and "A Good Man Is Hard To Find" for the band of renown and Butch Stone. 
 
J. Hill, who sat in the trombone section in the mid 50’s and has been the chief arranger for the band since that time. 
 
Les Brown, who still contributes about 20% of the current book and nearly 80% of my vocal backgrounds. Gene Lees quoted dad in his new book "Arranging the Score" as saying he always hired arrangers who were better than himself, but after listening to his charts on "Undecided" and "Bolero" there could be room for argument. 
 
Some of the arrangements were written by masters who are no longer with us, Skip Martin, who wrote many of the band’s hits like Irving Berlin’s "I’ve Got My Love To Keep Me Warm". Wes Hensel, Who wrote many of the band’s latin flavored charts. Ben Homer, who, besides writing "Bizet Has His Day", co-wrote "Sentimental Journey" with dad and Bud Green and wrote the arrangement that featured Doris Day doing the vocal. And Joe Garland who wrote the band’s signature song "Leap Frog " and later wrote "In the Mood" for the Glenn Miller band.
 
We are further honored by the presence of our special guest vocalist, Lou Rawls. Dad and the band had the privilege of working on the Dean Martin summer replacement show in the 60’s that was hosted by Lou. Although he is certainly one of the most recognized singers in the Blues and pop fields, he is also one of the finest Jazz and big band singers on the planet. We thank him for joining us on this project.
 
Anyone who has ever stood directly in front of a big band during a performance can hardly forget the experience. The warmth and power of the ensemble coupled with the intensity of the soloists is overwhelming. Great care was taken to capture and retain the integrity of that sound and feeling in this recording. Only one or two takes of every tune was made and all the solos were recorded live and not overdubbed. The overall "feel" of each take was of utmost importance not whether it was executed perfectly. We wanted it to be as if you were there and the band was playing live.
 
None of this could have been achieved without the skilled craftsmanship of the best recording team in the business, Al Schmitt and Bill Smith and Al Schmitt’s incredible final mix. A special thanks to Doug Sax at the Mastering Lab in Hollywood for his knowledgeable and appreciative contribution. And, last but certainly not least, Paula Salvatore and the crew at Capitol Records recording studios who make it such a pleasure to work in that historic building.