Phil Spitalny & The Hour Of Charm - Christmas Carols By
In March of 2007, I travelled back to my old haunts in Chicago and picked up a few Christmas albums. Among these were two SEALED copies of Mae West's "Mae In December" reissue from 1980. I sold one on eBay to a buyer from California and as I was preparing to sell the second copy, I discovered the buyer had listed his copy at double what he paid for it! I took a scan through his other albums for sale and noticed this album. Through e-mails, we set up a trade - my second Mae West for this 10" LP by Phil Spitalny. For those not in the know, Spitalny was the leader of an entire all-girl orchestra - only one of two during the heyday of the Big Band era. They played "jazzed" classics and light classical with equal aplomb, and had a roster of soloists that any orchestra envied. One of the featured soloists was Evelyn Klein, the concertmaster of the orchestra. She soon received top billing as Evelyn and Her Magic Violin. Evelyn and Phil took a liking ...