Celebration on the Planet Mars

Tireless hours of research and transcribing were required by the Beau Hunks Sextette to recreate this tribute to cartoon music powerhouse Raymond Scott. The Hunks, Holland's equivalent to the Cheap Suit Serenaders, perform exquisitely over the 19 tracks, using period instruments and trying their damnedest to keep up with Scott's frenetic arrangements. The results are stunning: humor abounds, and both well-known Scott titles (the ubiquitous "Dinner Music for a Pack of Hungry Cannibals" and "The Penguin") and lesser cuts (the ultra-rare "Egyptian Barn Dance") swing. Scott went on to perform straight jazz and even dabbled with electronica (the three volume Soothing Sounds for Baby series) later in his career, but it's his cartoon music featured here--filled with muted trumpets, rimshots, and Middle Eastern melodies--that's so unforgettable. --Jason Verlinde