Patty Brannen

Artist: Patty Brannen

LP: From Alaska With Love

Song: "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" 
[ listen ]

This autographed LP from Alaskan singer Patty Brannen (presented with special thanks to one Dr. Rosandele) is another of the records I acquired earlier this year from the collection of David Lloyd Whited of Vashon Island. "From Alaska With Love," as everyone now knows thanks to a once-rather-popular-and-wildly-entertaining-yet-extremely-frightening politician, is practically just like sending love from Russia. I was hoping I'd run into Patty on my Alaskan cruise earlier this year, but it did not happen. You can listen to more of Patty's album here, thanks to her granddaughter Angela, who posted it on YouTube.

[ Patty Brannen ]

Damian Luca

Artist: Damian Luca

LP: Trésors Folkloriques Roumains

Song: "Repezita"

[ listen ]

Here's evidence that Zamfir isn't the only Romanian flautist in the world who knows his way around a pan flute. Instructed by his uncle, the great pan flautist Fănică Luca, Damian mastered the flute and hit the road, performing at the Olympia in Paris, at New York's Carnegie Hall...he was even on The Ed Sullivan Show! My copy of Damian's "Trésors Folkloriques Roumains" LP is autographed by the entire troupe from Lucas' 1978 Pacific Northwest Tour, which lasted from October-December and which I somehow missed. "Repezita," one of the album's exuberant dances (side II - 1), provides a terrific showcase for Lucas' pan flutin' skills—this guy's a real Romaniac! You can read a bit about Damian Luca on the International Swiss Panflute Seminar website here, and LP liner notes in English and French are included below.

 [ Fănică Luca: April 5, 1894 — October 28, 1968 ]

Vince Cardell

Artist: Vince Cardell

LP: Liberace Presents Vince Cardell

Song: "Windmills of Your Mind"

[ listen ]

Song: "Tea For Two" [duet w/ Liberace]

[ listen ]

I've been having a recurring fantasy where I suddenly find myself at the center of a torrid three-way with piano virtuosos Liberace and Vince Cardell. When I close my eyes and listen to their musical interplay on "Tea For Two," I can practically feel the thrilling sensation of their twenty talented digits working their way up and down my... arms. I was pretty excited to find an autographed copy of Cardell's debut album (I even considered changing my name to "Florence"), but then I discovered that just about everybody has a signed copy of this LP. You can see Vince Cardell and Liberace in action together (on piano, anyway) using the video link below.

Vince Cardell w/ Liberace on YouTube:

[ "Brazil/Cumana" ]