Purveyor Of Balladry: Best Of Nino Tempo Atlantic

Nino Tempo has had a storied and varied career in the entertainment business. He was a musical prodigy, winning a national talent show for his singing at four years of age. A few years later, he took up the clarinet, inspired to learn the instrument after a brief stint singing with Benny Goodman's band. Less than a year later (at the age of 10), Nino added the saxophone to his musical arsenal after hearing recordings of Charlie Parker. He was also an actor in a number of movies, notably alongside Jimmy Stewart in The Glenn Miller Story (1953). In the early 1960s, Tempo joined the in-demand group of studio musicians known as the Wrecking Crew. It was at a Bobby Darin recording session that Nino met Atlantic co-founder Ahmet Ertegun for the first time, and a lifelong friendship began. Along with a new friendship, a recording career was launched as Ertegun signed Nino and his sister, April Stevens, to a recording contract with Atco, a subsidiary of Atlantic. So successful was Nino and April's 1963 duet, quot;Deep Purple,quot; that the chart-topping, million-selling gold record scored a Best Rock and Roll Recording Grammy® in 1964. The 1970s found Nino equally active, this time with his band Nino Tempo and 5th Ave. Sax. The group's 1973 hit, quot;Sister James,quot; has been cited as one of the first instrumental disco records to make the charts. It has since become a Northern Soul favorite. In 1975, Nino's ongoing session work included playing both saxophone and keyboards on John Lennon's Phil Spector-produced album, Rock 'n' Roll. In 1989, shortly after Ahmet Ertegun's brother Nesuhi passed away, Nino was on hand at Lincoln Center to pay tribute at his memorial service with a stirring rendition of quot;Darn That Dream.quot; It was that very performance-appearing for the first time on Purveyor Of Balladry-that landed Nino Tempo back on the Atlantic Records roster. Omnivore's compilation is drawn from the best of Nino's two Atlantic studio albums. The collection's title is derived from a comment by jazz critic and author, Leonard Feather. In his review of a 1993 Nino Tempo concert, Feather referred to the sax player as quot;a purveyor of balladry.quot; As Ahmet wrote to Nino: quot;To my dear friend Nino Tempo, You have been a major figure in this Atlantic story in many ways: As artist, producer, composer, session player, critic, soloist and as friend and advisor. Thank you for being there, and much love, Ahmet Ertegun - May 2006