He was an absolute master of his instrument, and his arrangements of the many Great American Songbook standards included here

Art Van Damme was one of those very rare animals - a jazz accordionist, and he became undoubtedly the most prominent exponent of his instrument in the history of the genre. Born in Michigan in 1920, he took up the accordion when he was nine, and studied classically after his family moved to Chicago in 1934. He started recording in the mid-1940s around the time he started working for NBC radio, and while his style and sound was compared to Benny Goodman's clarinet technique, his early albums were very much in the style that was called 'cocktail jazz', and none the less entertaining for that. This 56-track 2-CD collection comprises all the tracks from five of his first six albums - the 10' LP 'Cocktail Capers' and the 12' LP 'More Cocktail Capers' for Capitol, and the 12' albums 'Martini Time', 'The Van Damme Sound' and 'Manhattan Time' on Columbia. He almost invariably performed in a quintet format, the personnel generally featuring Charles Calzaretta (vibes), Claude Schneider or Fred Rundquist (guitar), Lew Skalinder (bass) and Max Mariash (drums). He was an absolute master of his instrument, and his arrangements of the many Great American Songbook standards included here, plus a number of original compositions, make for enlightening, fascinating and entertaining listening.

Track Listing

Disc 1:

• The Art Van Damme Quintet - Dark Eyes
• The Art Van Damme Quintet - I've Got You Under My Skin
• The Art Van Damme Quintet - Meadowland
• The Art Van Damme Quintet - If I Had You
• The Art Van Damme Quintet - I Know That You Know
• The Art Van Damme Quintet - The Breeze And I
• The Art Van Damme Quintet - Lover
• The Art Van Damme Quintet - The Man I Love
• The Art Van Damme Quintet - I Want To Be Happy
• The Art Van Damme Quintet - Pavanne
• The Art Van Damme Quintet - Rachel's Dream
• The Art Van Damme Quintet - Should I
• The Art Van Damme Quintet - Fine And Dandy
• The Art Van Damme Quintet - Perdido
• The Art Van Damme Quintet - Habanera
• The Art Van Damme Quintet - Linger Awhile
• The Art Van Damme Quintet - This Can't Be Love
• The Art Van Damme Quintet - Limehouse Blues
• The Art Van Damme Quintet - The Touch Of Your Lips
• The Art Van Damme Quintet - Hawaiian War Chant (Tu-Hu-Wa-Hu-Wai)
• The Art Van Damme Quintet - Carioca
• The Art Van Damme Quintet - I'll Remember April
• The Art Van Damme Quintet - Lullaby Of Broadway
• The Art Van Damme Quintet - Early Autumn
• The Art Van Damme Quintet - Ol' Man River
• The Art Van Damme Quintet - Slaughter On Tenth Avenue
• The Art Van Damme Quintet - I Let A Song Go Out Of My Heart
• The Art Van Damme Quintet - Thou Swell

Disc 2:

• The Art Van Damme Quintet - Deep Night
• The Art Van Damme Quintet - Let's Fall In Love
• The Art Van Damme Quintet - Don't Worry 'Bout Me
• The Art Van Damme Quintet - Tea For Two
• The Art Van Damme Quintet - Adiós
• The Art Van Damme Quintet - Blue Lou
• The Art Van Damme Quintet - Cheek To Cheek
• The Art Van Damme Quintet - Let Yourself Down
• The Art Van Damme Quintet - If I Could Be With You (One Hour Tonight)
• The Art Van Damme Quintet - I Didn't Know What Time It Was
• The Art Van Damme Quintet - The Surrey With The Fringe On Top
• The Art Van Damme Quintet - Madame Van Damme
• The Art Van Damme Quintet - My Kinda Love
• The Art Van Damme Quintet - I Hear Music
• The Art Van Damme Quintet - Tenderly
• The Art Van Damme Quintet - It's Easy To Remember
• The Art Van Damme Quintet - Stella By Starlight
• The Art Van Damme Quintet - Lover Come Back To Me
• The Art Van Damme Quintet - I Saw Stars
• The Art Van Damme Quintet - Oh, Look At Me Now
• The Art Van Damme Quintet - It's The Talk Of The Town
• The Art Van Damme Quintet - Temptation Rag
• The Art Van Damme Quintet - The Song Is You
• The Art Van Damme Quintet - Turnabout
• The Art Van Damme Quintet - Polka Dots And Moonbeams
• The Art Van Damme Quintet - Poinciana
• The Art Van Damme Quintet - The Glory Of Love
• The Art Van Damme Quintet - Hallelujah

Additional Details

Label: Acrobat

Genre: Jazz

Language: English

Run Time: 142 mins

Region: 0

Release Date: 10/17/25

UPC: 824046356521