Irv Cottler

Artist: Irv Cottler
LP: Around the World In Percussion

Song: "Arab Dance"
[ listen ]

Today I thought we'd peek through the beaded curtains of Arabia via this wonderful 1961 Irv Cottler record that seems to feature a fistful of fruity jello being thrown at a hanging globe. Irv was the drummer Frank Sinatra worked with during the last few decades of his career... until Irv died on August 8, 1989. It's weird, but I happen to remember exactly what I was doing on that day. I was in Arcadia, California as a Mormon missionary; it was my 20th birthday and a naive family of Letter-Day Saints who'd been transplanted from Utah brought me a birthday cake in the form of a bikini-clad woman's torso. We had a little impromptu birthday party and they informed me that their cake was the closest I was allowed to come to touching a sexy lady. And then Irv Cottler died. You can read more about this fabulous drummer at Space Age Pop here and I've included the LP liner notes below—along with a neat clip of Cottler performing at the Hollywood Palace with some other percussionists while Caterina Valente tap-dances wildly.

Irv Cottler on YouTube:
[ At the Hollywood Palace ]
w/ Louis Bellson, Philly Jo Jones, Shelly Manne, Caterina Valente

The Romance and Exotic Sounds
AROUND THE WORLD IN PERCUSSION
with IRV COTTLER
and Hollywood's Leading Percussionists

PERCUSSION INSTRUMENTS FEATURED:
bongos — timbales — gourd — cowbell — vibes
shaker bells — Chinese bell tree — finger cymbals
tambourine — xylophone — marimba — orchestra bells
triangle — chimes — hanging cymbal — castanets
timpani — temple block — Tahitian log — puppet shakers
bamboo rods — Trinidad steel drums

* * * * * * *

Here is all the spice and romantic intrigue of sounds
heard in intimate cafes around the world. These sensuous
arrangements by Irv Cottler and Marty Paich take us to
ports of pleasure from Singapore to Madrid...a glimpse
through beaded curtains of Arabia to a moon-bathed
paradise in the Pacific. Musical sounds that dreams
are made of...your passport to the fascination of
exotic places around the world.

RECORDED IN HOLLYWOOD UNDER DIRECTION
OF D.L. MILLER

* * * * * * *

Irv Cottler is considered by record and film producers
as one of the greatest drummers in the U.S.A. He has
played in the top bands of the golden age of dance
bands—Tommy Dorsey, Les Brown and Claude Thornhill.

Born in New York, he studied at Radio City and after
leaving the bands, he moved to the West Coast. He cur-
rently plays the Dinah Shore show and records with top
acts in the country, including Billy May and Frank Sinatra.

[ Irv Cottler: February 13, 1918 — August 8, 1989 ]