Lola Albright—”How High The Moon”

One year ago this weekend singer/actress Lola Albright died, age 92. Here she sings "How High the Moon," a classic song written in 1939 by composer Morgan Lewis (1906-1968) and singer/songwriter/actress/author Nancy Hamilton (1908-1985).

Though it had been recorded by Benny Goodman in 1940 and by Stan Kenton in 1948 it would not become a #1 hit until it was recorded by Les Paul and Mary Ford in January 1951.

This clip comes from the popular noirish television detective series "Peter Gunn," a detective played by Craig Stevens. (NBC, Season 1, Episode 5, entitled "The Frog," which was aired on October 20, 1958).

Writer Blake Edwards had been looking for what he described as "some distinctive element to invest this series with something extra, something superlative. It hit me then - JAZZ."

By using the music as an integral part of the dramatic action Spartan Productions had something genuinely new.

Each Monday the music sparkled and swung, with all the changes of mood, feeling and innuendo which made great drama and great jazz.

Actress/singer Lois Jean Albright (1924-2017) was born in Akron, Ohio, as the daughter of two gospel singers.

She studied music throughout her childhood and whatever she sang showed that she loved to sing.

Eventually she moved to Hollywood as a model and later starred in 40 movies, such as Kirk Douglas' "The Champion," Frank Sinatra's "The Tender Trap," and Elvis Presley's "Kid Galahad."

She also had many guest roles in tv-series ranging from "Bonanza" to "The Beverly Hillbillies."

In 1964 she succeeded actress Dorothy Malone, who had become seriously ill, to play the part of Constance McKenzie in the night time soap serie "Peyton Place."

Composer Henry Mancini, writer and arranger of the music for the "Peter Gunn" series, said of Lola: “She had an off-the-cuff kind of jazz delivery that was very hard to find."

Lola had, as mentioned in the liner notes of one of the only two albums she made, a definitive individual style and her mature treatment of a song is not as "Girl wants Boy" but it's "Woman wants Man."

Lola Albright is best remembered for her work between 1958 and 1961 when she captivated TV viewers as the sultry actress who played Peter Gunn's long time girlfriend Edie Hart, who worked as a singer at a smoky jazz nightclub called "Mother's." The show used real jazz musicians for its club scenes, which was a rarity.

The musicians featuring here with singer Lola Albright, were:

Milton "Shorty" Rogers-flugelhorn; Dick Nash-trombone; Victor Feldman-vibes; John T. Williams-piano; Bob Bain-guitar; Rolly Bundocks-bass; and Jack Sperling-drums.

The scene was filmed at MGM studios, 1002 W. Washington Blvd, Culver City, California.

Shorty Rogers was a veteran of the Woody Herman band and Stan Kenton and his Orchestra.

British born Vic Veldman had only emigrated to the U.S. the year before to join Woody Herman and his Orchestra.

Drummer Jack Sperling had been part of the rhythm section of Les Brown and his Band of Renown, and was then with the Dave Pell Octet.

Bassist in that octet was Rolly Bundocks, who had been the bass player in the 1939-1940 original Glenn Miller Orchestra.

As an composer/arranger Bundocks would later provide the scores for lots of movies including "Spartacus" and "Jaws."

The hardly visible pianist, is John T. Williams, who would also contribute his musical talents to the movies, including composing the music for Steven Spielberg's epic drama "Schindler's List."

Massachusetts born Richard Taylor Nash (92) and Chicagoan Robert Bain (94) are the only ones of these musicians who are still around today.

Dick Nash, who throughout his long career has accompanied all the great jazz vocalists, just recently gave up trombone playing and according to his profile on Facebook he resides in Woodland Hills, California and is still in good shape.

Bob Bain, who played a 1953 Telecaster on the Gunn episodes, played on sessions with Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Ray Charles and many others, and has also played with “The Tonight Show” band for 22 years.

An instrumental soundtrack album, 1959's "The Music from Peter Gunn" stayed 10 weeks at No. 1 in Billboard -- which had reviewed Lola's sound as "The sexiest voice . . ." -- and became the first album to win a Grammy for Album of the Year.

Since 34-year old Henry Mancini's wrote his scores for "Peter Gunn" he set the trend of linking jazz to television series with wise-cracking detectives in which "no self-respecting killer would consider pulling the trigger without a suitable jazz background."