Raymond Scott’s music is familiar - albeit predominantly anonymously - to millions through its use in the classic Warner Bros cartoons of the 1940s. The music wasn’t written for that purpose, but its manic and offbeat character lent itself perfectly to the antics of Daffy Duck, Bugs Bunny, Wyle E. Coyote, Road Runner, Elmer Fudd, Porky Pig, Marvin the Martian, Foghorn Leghorn and, more recently, Ren and Stimpy, and The Simpsons. The original Raymond Scott Quintette only recorded between 1937 and 1939 but, in 1943, Warner Bros bought Scott’s publishing, and soon after this his music began to crop up in Merrie Melodies and Looney Tunes cartoons. Few people are aware that the origin of these melodies was in the music of a quirky 1930s six-piece outfit whose brand of screwy ‘descriptive jazz’ was never intended for use in animation, or that the leader of this group went on to be a pioneering inventor and electronic musician.

Twisted Toons: The Music of Raymond Scott features 19 tracks showcasing the band’s energetic and accurate recreations of Scott’s music, alongside two imaginative re-workings of his electronic pieces. Scott’s forgotten gems are brought back to life through meticulous transcriptions (mostly by Stu Brown), which the band negotiates with humour, virtuosity and tight ensemble playing. In keeping with the sound and spirit of the original Quintette, The Stu Brown Sextet recorded using a single stereo ribbon microphone placed in the centre of the room. Some close mic sound was used on the horns, piano and bass, to balance the overall mix, but no close mics were used on the drums. The first 17 tracks are from the 1930s Quintette period, with the exception of At an Arabian House Party, which is Stu’s six piece arrangement of a 1940 big band composition. Most of the arrangements (and solos) are based very closely on the originals, though Stu has allowed space for improvisation in a few titles. Hypnotist in Hawaii was an unfinished Scott idea that featured on the 2008 CD Microphone Music (which contained previously unreleased 1930s material); here, Stu has rearranged it for double bass and horns. Egyptian Barn Dance is loosely based on an old piano arrangement of a Quintette tune, but given a more contemporary treatment by pianist, Tom Gibbs. The Bass-Line Generator is an arrangement for six saxophones and clarinet, based on a demo recording of a 1960s Scott invention which generated musical patterns from a ten note tone row. Toy Typewriter is based on Scott’s track from Soothing Sounds for Baby (Volume 2). The original was a hypnotic 17 minute track, featuring a modulating one bar rhythmic figure; Stu’s version is a little more edgy and erratic, suggesting how the track might have sounded if, as Stu puts it, ‘Scott had met Squarepusher in a 1960s time-travel accident’.

One of MOJO’s top ten Jazz albums of 2009.