Listen here

Art Van Damme was one of those very rare animals – a jazz accordionist, and he became undoubtedly the most prominent exponent of his instrument in the history of the genre. 

Born in Michigan in 1920, he took up the accordion when he was nine, and studied classically after his family moved to Chicago in 1934. 

He started recording in the mid-1940s around the time he started working for NBC radio, and while his style and sound was compared to Benny Goodman’s clarinet technique, his early albums were very much in the style that was called “cocktail jazz”, and none the less entertaining for that. 

This 56-track 2-CD collection comprises all the tracks from five of his first six albums – the 10” LP “Cocktail Capers” and the 12” LP “More Cocktail Capers” for Capitol, and the 12” albums for “Martini Time”, “The Van Damme Sound” and “Manhattan Time” on Columbia. 

He almost invariably performed in a quintet format, the personnel generally featuring Charles Calzaretta (vibes), Claude Schneider or Fred Rundquist (guitar), Lew Skalinder (bass) and Max Mariash (drums). 

He was an absolute master of his instrument, and his arrangements of the many Great American Songbook standards included here, plus a number of original compositions, make for enlightening, fascinating and entertaining listening. 

Tracks

CD 1
1. DARK EYES The Art Van Damme Quintet 
2. I'VE GOT YOU UNDER MY SKIN The Art Van Damme Quintet 
3. MEADOWLAND The Art Van Damme Quintet 
4. IF I HAD YOU The Art Van Damme Quintet 
5. I KNOW THAT YOU KNOW The Art Van Damme Quintet 
6. THE BREEZE AND I The Art Van Damme Quintet 
7. LOVER The Art Van Damme Quintet 
8. THE MAN I LOVE The Art Van Damme Quintet 
From the 10” album “Cocktail Capers”    Capitol H178   1950
9. I WANT TO BE HAPPY The Art Van Damme Quintet 
10. PAVANNE The Art Van Damme Quintet 
11. RACHEL'S DREAM The Art Van Damme Quintet 
12. SHOULD I The Art Van Damme Quintet 
13. FINE AND DANDY The Art Van Damme Quintet 
14. PERDIDO The Art Van Damme Quintet 
15. HABANERA The Art Van Damme Quintet 
16. LINGER AWHILE The Art Van Damme Quintet 
17. THIS CAN'T BE LOVE The Art Van Damme Quintet 
18. LIMEHOUSE BLUES The Art Van Damme Quintet 
19. THE TOUCH OF YOUR LIPS The Art Van Damme Quintet 
20. HAWAIIAN WAR CHANT (TU-HU-WA-HU-WAI) The Art Van Damme Quintet 
From the 12” album “More Cocktail Capers”    Capitol T300   1952
21. CARIOCA The Art Van Damme Quintet 
22. I'LL REMEMBER APRIL The Art Van Damme Quintet 
23. LULLABY OF BROADWAY The Art Van Damme Quintet 
24. EARLY AUTUMN The Art Van Damme Quintet 
25. OL' MAN RIVER The Art Van Damme Quintet 
26. SLAUGHTER ON TENTH AVENUE The Art Van Damme Quintet 
27. I LET A SONG GO OUT OF MY HEART The Art Van Damme Quintet 
28. THOU SWELL The Art Van Damme Quintet 
From the 12” album “The Van Damme Sound”   Columbia CL544    1954

CD 2
1. DEEP NIGHT The Art Van Damme Quintet 
2. LET'S FALL IN LOVE The Art Van Damme Quintet 
3. DON'T WORRY 'BOUT ME The Art Van Damme Quintet 
4. TEA FOR TWO The Art Van Damme Quintet 
From the 12” album “The Van Damme Sound”   Columbia CL544    1954
5. ADIÓS The Art Van Damme Quintet 
6. BLUE LOU The Art Van Damme Quintet 
7. CHEEK TO CHEEK The Art Van Damme Quintet 
8. LET YOURSELF DOWN The Art Van Damme Quintet 
9. IF I COULD BE WITH YOU (ONE HOUR TONIGHT) The Art Van Damme Quintet 
10. I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT TIME IT WAS The Art Van Damme Quintet 
11. THE SURREY WITH THE FRINGE ON TOP The Art Van Damme Quintet 
12. MADAME VAN DAMME The Art Van Damme Quintet 
13. MY KINDA LOVE The Art Van Damme Quintet 
14. I HEAR MUSIC The Art Van Damme Quintet 
15. TENDERLY The Art Van Damme Quintet 
16. IT'S EASY TO REMEMBER The Art Van Damme Quintet
 From the 12” album “Martini Time”   Columbia CL630    1953
16. STELLA BY STARLIGHT The Art Van Damme Quintet 
17. LOVER COME BACK TO ME The Art Van Damme Quintet 
18. I SAW STARS The Art Van Damme Quintet 
19. OH, LOOK AT ME NOW The Art Van Damme Quintet 
20. IT'S THE TALK OF THE TOWN The Art Van Damme Quintet 
21. TEMPTATION RAG The Art Van Damme Quintet 
22. THE SONG IS YOU The Art Van Damme Quintet 
23. TURNABOUT The Art Van Damme Quintet 
24. POLKA DOTS AND MOONBEAMS The Art Van Damme Quintet 
25. POINCIANA The Art Van Damme Quintet 
26. THE GLORY OF LOVE The Art Van Damme Quintet 
27. HALLELUJAH The Art Van Damme Quintet
From the 12” album “Manhattan Time”   Columbia CL801   1956