Some of the biggest news in the music world today is being made by small combinations. There's hardly a juke-box or disk-jockey show that doesn't feature the platters of great little groups like the Ink Spots. Latest waxing by this foursome features When You Come to the End of the Day, popular almost 20 years ago. It gets a bright new arrangement here, with a particularly good tenor treatment by Billy Kenny. On the reverse is I'll Lose a Friend Tomorrow, a typical Ink Spots ballad complete with talking interlude. (Decca 24261; list price, 75 cents.)

A recent coupling by the Modernaires shows how effectively a really fine group can handle two such completely different moods as those voiced in Jingle Bell Polka and The Whistler. Top side, an original by Hal Dickinson, is a bright, cheerful tune set to two-beat tempo that tells the story of a sleigh ride in the sun. On the reverse is the theme song of the well-known radio show, a strange melody whose eeriness is heightened by the use of an echo chamber. Background music for both sides is supplied by the Lou Bring orchestra. (Columbia 37980; list price. 75 cents.)

When a bunch of star performers get into a carefree, playful mood, most anything can happen. In the case of Ja-Da and Three O'Clock Jump, the result is some swell up-to-the-minute jazz that may well make this record a collector's item. On the first side, songstar Peggy Lee plays drums, guitarist Dave Barbour blows a trumpet, arranger Paul Weston plays hot clarinet. Red Norvo is at the piano, and Frank De Vol, who never touched the instrument previously, is featured on string bass a la Slam Stewart. Turnover is a series of blue riffs with vocalist Hal Derwin playing guitar, trumpeters Bobby Sherwood and Billy May blowing trombones, altoist Benny Carter on tenor, tenorman Eddie Miller on alto, and arranger Dave Cavanaugh on baritone. (Capitol 15015; list price, 75 cents.)

Also current and choice is an album by the Delta Rhythm Boys. There are eight good standards ranging from September Song to One O'clock Jump, with all benefiting from the imaginative arrangements and rich, well-blended voices of this quintet. (Victor P-133; list price, $3.40.)

A bit off the beaten path is a novelty biscuit by the Polka Dots, a harmonica foursome. The boys huff and they puff through Beer Barrel Polka and Bubble Gum Polka. The latter tribute to the kiddy craze boasts a deft dramatic touch — the sound of the bursting of a genuine bubble. (Musicraft 521; list price, 75 cents.)

It's been my pleasure, many times, to work with a really outstanding vocal team known far and wide as the Pied Pipers. It will be your pleasure. I believe, to listen to June Hutton, Hal Hopper, Chuck Lowry, and Clark Yocum as they give out with some close harmony on their current coupling of Lone Star Moon and Penny, aided by the ever dependable Paul Weston accompaniment. (Capitol 478; list price, 63 cents.)

There's been quite a bit of controversy about who should be credited, or blamed for the origination of "be bop." One of the claimants is Babs Gonzales, billed as the "foremost be bop word coiner," and author of a dictionary on the subject. For an enlightening sample lesson, listen to 1280 Special and Everything Is Cool, by the same Babs, Three Bips and a Bop. (Apollo 776; list price, 79 cents.)

Four of the all-time greats are brought together between the covers of a new album, Singing the Blues, and there's enough genius here to make anybody lick his chops for years to come. (Victor P-192; list price. $3.75.)

Publication Date: February 1948 Liberty Reprint Issue