Artists

From Pueblo and Denver, Colorado, the Lee Arlano Trio works the western United States throughout the '60s and into the early '70s, circulating through the jazz club circuit with regular stops in Minneapolis, Jackson Hole, Las Vegas, Anaheim, and... Austin, Texas. And, when they're in Austin, the trio calls The Club Seville at the Crest Motor InnWhen it opens in January 1966, the Crest Motor Inn is known as Wilbur Clark's Crest Hotel. Over the years, through ownership changes, it becomes the Crest Motor Inn, the Crest Sheraton, the Radisson, and, now, The LINE Austin. home. It's KAZZ-FM's live remote broadcasts from The Club Seville, hosted by future Sonobeat Records co-founder Bill Josey Sr., that introduce him to the group in 1966. Bill Sr., an avid jazz fan, loves the group's versatility, technical craftsmanship, and imaginative interpretations of jazz classics such as Big Noise from Winnetka and new hits such as Ramsey Lewis' jazz-rock crossover The In Crowd. Bill Sr., who plays big band-style coronet, knows, even as Sonobeat is merely a germinating idea, that he wants to do something more with Lee's trio.

The first Arlano session is held at The Club Seville on July 12, 1967, during hours the club is closed to the public, and yields two tracks for a 45 RPM stereo single. The Arlano sessions resume on July 19th, again at The Club Seville, with instrumental backing tracks for potential Don Dean and Fran Nelson pop vocal singles, and wrap on July 26th and 27th, when the Trio records a baker's dozen slickly performed tracks from which ten will be selected for a Sonobeat album release in 1968. Importantly, since the recordings are all of unamplified acoustic instruments, it's easier for inexperienced recording engineers Rim Kelley (Bill Josey Jr.) and KAZZ-FM chief engineer Bill Curtis, who has designed and built Sonobeat's portable 6-input stereo mixer, to create a real-time mix of each tune with just one pass to a quarter-inch 2-track Ampex 354 recorder. All that's required are two mikes on the piano, three on the drums, and one on the upright double bass. Although the mixer and recorder are situated only a few feet from the stage where Lee Arlano (drums), Andy Arlano (bass), and Sam Poni (piano) perform, because the instruments are unamplified, Kelley and Curtis can clearly hear the mix through their headphones. In addition, acoustic instruments don't overload the Curtis-built mixer, creating relatively clean recordings. Since the session tapes also are the master tapes, the lacquer masters for the record pressing plates are made with first generation recordings to produce the best stereo separation and fidelity.

The Lee Arlano Trio's first Sonobeat single, There Will Never Be Another You backed with Meditation (PJ-s 501), released September 11, 1967, picks up accolades in a Cash Box Magazine review in October 1967, but Cash Box mistakes There Will Never Be Another You for the Seekers' 1965 pop-rock hit I'll Never Find Another You, a completely different song. Sonobeat's first album release Jazz To The Third Power follows in 1968 and features ten of the Trio's 1967 recordings. The Trio's diverse Jazz to the Third Power (PJ-S 1001) is one of only three albums that Sonobeat commercially releases and markets on its own label (The David Flack Quorum's Mindbender and Helmer Dahl's Toe-Tapping Tunes: Organ Solos are the others). Bill Sr. engages celebrated Austin artist Jim Franklin (a co-founder and artist-in-residence of fabled Vulcan Gas Company in downtown Austin) to create the cover art from a band publicity photo; notably, it's Jim's first album cover, which he creates as a detailed pencil sketch. Austin commercial photographer Jack Storey provides the liner photo, and Austin American-Statesman amusements editor John Bustin writes the liner notes. The June 29, 1968, edition of music trade journal Billboard awards the album a 4-star rating in its jazz album reviews for the week.

As its last release of 1969, Sonobeat issues the Arlano Trio's second and final single, School Daze (P-J 117), the only Arlano original recorded by Sonobeat, with music by pianist Sam Poni and lyrics by prolific Sonosong composer Herman Nelson. Meditation, the "B" side of the first Arlano single, makes its second appearance, this time as the "B" side of School Daze. Although the Arlano Trio backs early recordings intended for Sonobeat artists Fran Nelson and Don Dean, which end up unused, School Daze is the only vocal released by the group and credits "Cindy" as the singer. Her last name isn't mentioned on the single's label, but "Cindy" is Cindy Reynolds, who also sings on the Bill Wilson song demo album recorded by Sonobeat in the same general time frame as the Arlano sessions. From 1976 to 2009, the Sonobeat archives contain no copy of the School Daze 45 RPM single; however, as a holiday present in December 2009, Herman Nelson graciously gifts the Archives with a copy from his personal collection, a rare and prized treasure.

The Club Seville is a private supper club occupying the entire second floor of the Crest Motor Inn overlooking Town Lake in downtown Austin. Near the center of the large dining room, which is set up cabaret style, is a small raised stage for musical acts and a wood planked dance floor. Three sides of the Club are lined with floor to ceiling windows that reflect not just light but sound. To dampen what might otherwise be too "lively" a room for dinner guests, the windows are thickly draped – the drapes are partially closed when musical acts are on stage – and the floor coverings are equally thick and luxurious. The drapes and carpet almost completely deaden the room on Sonobeat's Arlano recordings, so when the Trio's singles and album are mastered and pressed by Houston Records, producer Bill Josey Sr. asks that they "add a slight, almost unnoticeable amount of reverb – but only if that reverb is chamber or steel sheet – no springs, please!"

By the time Sonobeat releases Jazz to the Third Power in '68, Lee's brother Andy has been replaced on bass by Jack Dujo, also from Pueblo, Colorado. Pianist Sam Poni and Jack have worked as a duo before joining up with Lee, but Jack doesn't perform on any of Sonobeat's Lee Arlano Trio releases. In fact, the Lee Arlano Trio changes personnel many times in a relatively short period of time; when Bill Sr. first meets the Trio, the pianist is Les James. The Trio records another album, in 1969, this time for Denver label Premiere, with Les Arellano stepping in on piano, causing us some confusion when we come across this in newspaper ads. Adding to the confusion, "Arlano" is one of two names used interchangeably by the Trio; in fact, the first four tracks Sonobeat records with the trio are under the name "The Lee Arellano Trio". The family name indeed appears to be "Arellano", not "Arlano". Newspaper ads variously refer to the Trio by both "Arellano" and "Arlano". Even "Sam Poni" appears to be a stage name for Sam Pannunzio, who today remains an active performer based in Pueblo, Colorado. By 1976, Lee has joined big band The Denver Affair. Lee dies on October 1, 1982, at age 48.

Bill Josey Sr. hosts many live broadcasts of the Lee Arlano Trio over KAZZ-FM, all originating from The Club Seville, both before and after the combo's first Sonobeat single is released. After KAZZ-FM shuts down in January 1968, Sonobeat continues its relationship with the group that ultimately generates the most number of tracks Sonobeat commercially releases by any artist.

In March 2014, Sonobeat Historical Archives reissues restored and remastered digital versions of There Will Never Be Another You and Meditation, and in October 2015, reissues the Arlano album Jazz To The Third Power with two previously unreleased bonus tracks. All are available on iTunes, Amazon Music, and dozens of other digital download and streaming platforms worldwide.