Harold Arlen - Harold Arlen Sings Sweet and Hot

Hyman Arluck, later known as the great American composer Harold Arlen, was born February 15, 1905 in Buffalo, NY and died in New York City on April 23, 1986. The son of a cantor, he became infatuated with jazz and hot dance music, dropped out of school and began writing musical arrangements, playing piano and singing for a living. Songwriting, at first, seems to have been an afterthought. This Living Era collection traces Arlen's gradual rise to maturity using records he made between 1926 and 1954 in front of ensembles led by Red Nichols, Arnold Johnson, Leo Reisman, Joe Venuti, Ray Sinatra, Eugene Hayes, Woody Herman and Ray Matz. Read More