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Collection 1945-60 on CD

This is the latest in Acrobat's series of 4-CD collections devoted to the work of the great arranger/conductors of the post-war era, who contributed so much to the recordings of the most successful vocalists of that era, as well as making noted orchestral recordings during the time when easy listening stereo albums were becoming popular. Frank de Vol, born in 1911 and the son of an orchestra leader, learnt violin and was doing arrangements to a professional standard by the time he was 16 for the Horace Heidt and Alvino Rey orchestras of which he was a member. He joined Capitol Records, where he worked with Peggy Lee, Margaret Whiting, Kay Starr, Mel Torme, Gordon McRae and Nat King Cole, for whom he did the haunting arrangement of his No. 1 hit "Nature Boy". He moved to RCA, where he worked with Dinah Shore, before joining Columbia Records, where he did arrangements for Rosemary Clooney, Doris Day, Bing Crosby, Jo Stafford, The Four Lads and Tony Bennett, as well as making some innovative orchestral concept albums on his own account. He also arranged jazz-oriented material for Verve, working with Ella Fitzgerald and J.J. Johnson, before moving on to work in TV and film music, as well as becoming a TV actor in his own right. This collection provides an entertaining overview of his core career in popular music, and as always gives a fascinating insight into the contribution which arrangers made to some landmark recordings. Like the previous anthologies in this series, this great-value 106-track 4-CD set has been researched and compiled by former showbiz journalist and photographer Geoff Wilding, who has also contributed substantial booklet notes