FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 16 , 2004
Contact: Jennifer Komosa 202-338-1999
email: felten@starpower.net

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Between ‘56 and ‘60 Mel Tormé, backed by the Marty Paich Dek-Tette, recorded three records considered to be the best of his career. In a tribute to Tormé, singer and trombonist Eric Felten has reunited veterans of the legendary Dek-Tette -- greats of the West Coast Cool jazz scene such as trumpeter Jack Sheldon, saxophonists Herb Geller and Med Flory, valve trombonist Bob Enevoldsen and bassist Chuck Berghofer. Together, they have recreated the excitement of the Tormé-Paich collaboration, recording an album of classic standards, featuring all-new arrangements in the style of Marty Paich.

Mel Tormé liked to refer to himself as “a singing entertainer.” But his recordings with the Dek-Tette were proof positive that Tormé was also one of the finest jazz singers of all time. With his tribute to Mel Tormé, Eric Felten has tried to capture that same satisfying mix -- creating music that is both entertaining and at the same time, serious jazz. Backed by the Dek-Tette, Eric sings a baker’s dozen of great American standards, songs that Tormé loved to perform throughout his long career.

The Marty Paich Dek-Tette was initially inspired by the Miles Davis “Birth of the Cool” Nonet and the Gerry Mulligan Tentet. Paich, who was known as “The Picasso of Big Band Jazz,” soon turned his Dek-Tette into the perfect expression of West Coast Cool. The band featured a distinctive tonal palette, with french horn, tuba and no piano. Paich and the Dek-Tette not only recorded with Tormé, but provided the backing of one of Ella Fitzgerald’s best records, the 1958 side “Ella Swings Lightly,” as well as Sammy Davis Jr.’s “The Wham of Sam.”

And yet, for all the artistic success of these recordings, the Dek-Tette sound has been overlooked in today’s jazz scene. Eric Felten brings the Dek-Tette vividly back to life in a project that could easily be called the Buena-Vista-Social-Club of West Coast jazz.