America the Beautiful $3.27

About America the Beautiful

From the liner notes of "Extension:"

"Check out the instrumentation. It is as far from the standard big-band combination as you can imagine, for Fischer is acquainted with the vast army of woodwinds and brass that ordinarily populate symphony orchestras. Check out the players. Many of the players on this record were not those popular in the rehearsal bands around Hollywood at the time. Men such as Don Shelton, Jerry Coker, and Gary Foster. Yet Clare Fischer had been collecting the names of people he knew could play his music. And play the hell out of it they did.

"Only Jerry Coker and Clare play solos on this album. Thus the obligations of the writer are multiplied: it is he who must swing and feel loose if he wants his music to transmit these effects. And Clare succeeds abundantly in fulfilling this obligation. There are many places - in fact whole compositions in which swing and looseness are omitted in favor of other musical needs, but when he wants to, Fischer achieves a jazz pulse and phrasing that leave nothing to be desired."
--John William Hardy, 28 October 1983

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In 1978 Leonard Feather wrote of "Songs For Rainy Day Lovers:"

"There are, in today's vast inventory of recordings, innumerable albums of popular music. There are albums that are written by gifted arrangers, and others that are played by superbly equipped instrumental soloists. Then, too, there are the albums created by artists whose roots are in jazz.

"This one has the rare distinction of falling into all four categories. The reason is clear: all the arrangements of popular songs, as well as the instrumental solos and the jazz roots can be traced to one man. Clare Fischer is one of those rare individuals who can feel at ease, and make that feeling buoyantly evident, in an almost limitless range of musical settings.

"Clare's music reflects the personality of the man. As you talk with him you are struck by his firmness and conviction; at the same time his intellectual honesty and integrity cannot fail to impress you. The keynote is precision without pedantry. Of the music in this album he says: 'Other than what is heard on the fast tempo numbers, everything is on the quiet, subdued level that I hope will be appealing. I tried to do some things that could interest a wide range of listeners while employing some interesting harmonic ideas.'

"For Clare Fischer, whose horizons in music would seem to be limitless, these impeccable performances constitute a most auspicious debut. For the listener who may be making his acquaintance through these sides, they offer a striking illustration of a major talent." --Leonard Feather