Irwin Kostal, Sid Ramin and 'West Side Story'

Irwin Kostal and Sid Ramin

The distinguished orchestrators Sid Ramin and Irwin Kostal worked closely with composer Leonard Bernstein on both the stage and film versions of West Side Story - and his subsequent "Symphonic Dances from West Side Story." But Ramin and Kostal also collaborated on this little known 1958 EP, The Sound of West Side Story by the Ramin-Kostal Orchestra.

It contains four cuts, and basically three songs - "Cool" (which is followed by the related "Cool Fugue"), "Maria" and "Mambo" - and is itself an enjoyable addition to the West Side Story canon.

Sid Ramin (1919-2019) was active as an orchestrator on many hit Broadway shows, and in films, television and on records. Irwin Kostal (1911-94) worked mainly in television, but also in movies and on Broadway. Ramin and Kostal shared an Academy Award for their work on the original West Side Story film. Kostal also won an Oscar for The Sound of Music.

In producing their EP, the intent of Ramin, Kostal and RCA Victor may well have been to offer a low-price alternative to the popular Columbia original cast LP. Whatever their reasons, they produced a fascinating alternative to the music on 1957 original cast album and the later Symphonic Dances. 

The orchestra on the EP is essentially a modern jazz band. The orchestration is significantly different from both the original cast recording and Symphonic Dances in that it does not include strings.

The Honey Dreamers - Bob Davis, Nan Green, Marion Bye, Bob Mitchell and Jerry Packer

The EP also features the Honey Dreamers vocal group, not a jazz ensemble such as Lambert, Hendricks and Ross but a sophisticated pop group which stands in both for the Jets (in the "Cool" music) and Tony (in "Maria").

The EP also programs the selections differently from the stage show. In the stage production, "Dance at the Gym" (i.e., "Mambo") precedes and thematically leads into "Maria." The "Cool" music comes later. The EP reverses this order.

I like the Honey Dreamers, but they cannot replace the contributions of Mickey Calin (later Michael Callen, a Hollywood fixture) and the Jets in "Cool," nor the passionate singing of Larry Kert in "Maria." The recording of the original cast album is also in wide, atmospheric stereo, which is particularly important to the impact of the "Mambo" music.

In short, the OBC LP is one of the great recordings of the 20th century, and Ramin-Kostal isn't a substitute. But it's a fine effort in its own right, well recorded in mono (this transfer is in ambient stereo), very well played and worthwhile.

To me, and I'm sure this is a minority view, the least successful presentation of the music from West Side Story was in Bernstein's own Symphonic Dances. The composer's intent was to demonstrate the symphonic rigor behind his theater score, but in doing so he has drained most of the emotion and color from the music. The work is nonetheless popular. During the 2018 Bernstein centenary, it was one of the most played symphonic works in the repertory of US orchestras.

But you can make up your own mind. The comments include links to not only the Ramin-Kostal EP, but the relevant cuts from the original Broadway cast LP and Bernstein's 1961 recording of the Symphonic Dances with the New York Philharmonic, all from my collection.

FYI - I've newly remastered Larry Kert's excellent 1960 stereo LP of Bernstein songs, removing almost all of the vocal sibilance that marred the recording. I've also redone the Honey Dreamers' very fine 1955 Gershwin LP, made with Elliot Lawrence, which is now in ambient stereo. Both are highly recommended.

I first learned of the Ramin-Kostal EP when a friend of mine shared it with me. I liked it so much I acquired a copy of my own for this post.