The "Peacock Alley" Mystery

A particularly exciting discovery in Cy Walter's memorabilia, at least initally, was a proofed RCA master photo cover of an unreleased album of which his family had never heard, entitled "Cy Walter At Peacock Alley". During 1958 to 1959, Cy performed as part of a trio at the Waldorf Astoria's Peacock Alley. This proof suggested the possibility of RCA recording sessions by Cy and his trio which might yet be extant, but had never been commercially released.

Michael Feinstein, upon being informed of this discovery, cogently pointed out that the "Cy Walter At Peacock Alley" record cover seemed to parallel the music and liner notes of a later‑released Westminster album entitled "A Dry Martini, Please", except for perhaps two individual songs. To determine what was actually in the RCA vaults, Michael suggested contacting Vince Giordano, a musician and musical historian with encyclopedic knowledge who then happened to be working with BMG (RCA's successor). Vince quickly located both the tapes and the recording session take notes, which included a memo from the record company indicating that this album was not to be released. Thus, for reasons now unknown, it appears that Cy and RCA mutually determined that a parting of the ways was in order, and that Cy would thereafter remain free to have another record company release the music created during the RCA recording sessions. And so transpired the metamorphosis of "Cy Walter At Peacock Alley" into "A Dry Martini, Please".  

A copy of the session notes for these Peacock Alley recording sessions is provided below.