DICK KESNER and His MAGIC STRADIVARIUS

BRUNSWICK

BL 754051
FULL-RANGE HIGH FIDELITY

STEREO

R
Brunswick
RECORDS

DICK KESNER

and His MAGIC STRADIVARIUS


SELECTIONS INCLUDE

Side One

1. AUTUMN LEAVES
(Les Feuillles Mortes)
Joseph Kosma

2. TENNESSEE WALTZ
Redd Stewart-Pee Wee King

3. ROSES OF PICARDY
Fred Weatherly-Haydn Wood

4. IT'S ALL IN THE GAME
C. G. Dawes-C. Sigman

5. EMBRACEABLE YOU
George Gershwin-Ira Gershwin

6. TONIGHT WE LOVE
(Based On Tchaikovky Piano Concerto in B Mnor)


Side Two

1. SCHUBERT'S SERENADE
Arr. & Adapt. R. Ballard-C. Dant

2. OUR LOVE
(Based on Tchaikovsky's "Romeo and Juliet"

3. POEME-FIBICH
Arr. & Adapt. R. Ballard-C. Dant

4. POOR BUTTERFLY
Raymond Hubbell-John L. Golden

5. MOONLIGHT SERENADE
Glenn Miller-Mitchell Parish

6. VIOLIN MAGIC
Arr. & Adapt. R. Ballard
(Based on a Theme froM Schubert's "Unfinished Symphony")


It seems likely that Dick Kesner's Stradivarious has been heard and seen by more people than any other violin in the world. Each week, millions of TV viewers listen and watch in rapt attention as Dick produced magic sounds with this beautiful instrument on the Lawrence Welk Show. He has been a consistent favorite with the audience of this highly rated television program.

Dick's legion of fans will be delighted to discover that this album contains mane of the songs which receive widest acclaim when he performs them on the air. They are all familiar melodies, beautifully presented with Kesner's impeccable taste and ability.

Providing a fine background for Dick and his magic "Strad" is the orchestra conducted by Robert Ballard. Comprised of four violas , four celli and rhythm section, the orchestra provides a soft, listenable danceable backdrop.

Like a great many members of teh Lawrence Welk organization, Dick Kesner was born and raised in the Mid-West. A native of Sheldon, Iowa, Dick began his musical training on piano at the age of seven. At ten, he gave it up and began studying his first love, violin. His years of study with various teachers were climaxed by a three-year scholarship at the American Conservatory in Chicago.

He began his professional career in 1935, teaching and playing iwth various dance bands, including Frankie Masters and Herbie Holmes. As with millions of other young men, his career was later inerrupted by three and one-half years as an infantryman in the Philippines and Okinawa.

After the war, Kesner located with his wife, Muriel, in San Francisco. There he played with the Symphony, organized his own gypsy combo and was on staff with ABC Radio.

He left San Francisco in 1950 and toured with the Fredie Martin Orchestra until joining Lawrence Welk in 1953. He has been a "regular" with Welk since that time. He now lives in a suburb of Los Angels with his wife and three daughters.

So here is Dick with his famous, old and beautiful Stradivarius violin (the label and papers state that it was made in 1717). He and the violin become one in presenting this collection of familiar, well-loved and beautiful melodies, superbly recorded for the utmost in listening and dancing pleasure.

Bill Olofson