July 2002

 


These 7 discs are part of Bluebird's Best Series (jazz, swing, popular song), representative of those performances on record that "…made the artists legends". The offer the listener introductions to bands and vocalists both at the beginnings and peaks of their respective careers. The music is undoubtedly a must in the recorded library of any serious collector.

Count Basie - "Kansas City Powerhouse"

RealAudio Sample


Basie's earliest roots go back to his role as pianist with the Bennie Moten Kansas City Orchestra, in the company of such sidemen as Ben Webster, Eddie Barefield and Hot Lips Page. Five numbers from that 1929 to 1932 period including "Moten Swing" and "Toby" introduce this disc. The remaining 11 feature Basie's own "riff-based" band, highlighting soloists Harry 'Sweets' Edison, Buddy Tate, Paul Gonsalves, Jack Washington, drawn from Victor's vaults (1947-49), memorable for renditions of "Swingin' the Blues", "Seventh Avenue Express", and "One O'Clock Boogie". JS

Bluebird 9026-63903-2


Jelly Roll Morton - "Jazz King of New Orleans"

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Jelly Roll Morton, the self-proclaimed inventor of jazz, presents his Red Hot Peppers and Orchestra (1926-30) on the then "new" electrical recording process for Victor 78's, documenting early jazz that preceded the swing era. The pianist/composer/arranger/vocalist experimented with the incorporation of Caribbean rhythms and original instrumentation evident on such pieces as "Cannon Ball Blues" (guitar replaces banjo), "Jungle Blues" (adding alto sax), "Someday Sweetheart" (including 2 violins). However, all compositions are strongly affiliated with the spirit of his native New Orleans. JS

Bluebird 9026-63899-2


Benny Goodman - "The King of Swing"

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Clarinetist Benny Goodman virtually ruled the "Kingdom of Swing" from 1936 to the early 40's. Though a swinging improviser whose instrument was always front and center, he did not achieve this distinction alone. The band displayed a remarkably "…spirited interplay between soloist and larger ensemble…", a characteristic due mainly to the superb series of band arrangers such as Jimmy Mundy, Edgar Sampson, and Fletcher Henderson, as well as contributions from excellent solo artists: Harry James, Bunny Berigan, Ziggy Elman Jess Stacy, Gene Krupa. These numbers from 1935 to 1939 include such timeless gems as "King Porter Stomp", "Sing, Sing, Sing", "Don't Be That Way", "And the Angels Sing". JS

Bluebird 9026-63902-2


Glenn Miller - "America's Bandleader"

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The appeal of the Glenn Miller band lay with the dancing public. It packed ballrooms and dance halls year after year, drew large audiences to its radio broadcasts, grew steadily in popularity from the late 30's right up to Miller's untimely disappearance over the English Channel in 1944. The "trademark sound" came from its 5-man reed section with an overriding brass that gave dancers both the emotional spell and irresistible tempos they wanted. Though the band could swing, and had the solo guns to do so - trumpeter Billy May, tenor men Al Klink and Tex Beneke, clarinetist Ernie Caceres, Miller himself on trombone - the stars of the orchestra became the vocalists: Ray Eberle, Marion Hutton, Paula Kelly & the Modernaires. Whether instrumentally "In the Mood"/"American Patrol"/"Tuxedo Junction" or romantically inclined "At Last"/"Story of a Starry Night"/"Blue Moonlight", the band remained a national favourite. JS

Bluebird 9026-63900-2


Eartha Kitt - Heavenly Eartha"

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For those who thought that he multi-lingual Eartha Kitt couldn't sing, she signed a recording contract with RCA (1952-57), turning out 6 top 40 songs, including "I Want to be Evil" and "Santa Baby". Labelled all "fire and ice", a prowling, hissing force of nature", "a blast of vitriol" the woman who once played The Wicked Witch in a Madison Square Garden version of The Wizard of Oz, and Helen of Troy in Orson Welles' Paris production of Faust, continues to thrive as a popular café artist, retaining her characteristic signature purr, choosing those songs that she prefers. Her throaty voice is heard on 14 numbers here, including 3 W.C.Handy blues with Shorty Rogers Dixieland Orchestra (1957). JS

Bluebird 9026-63901-2


Della Reese - "Della"

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Most know of Della Reese as "Tess" on the current TV show "Touched by an Angel", where she garnered numerous awards for her role as the "…tender-hearted matron…" who supervises 3 junior angels to help in keeping humans on track. However, here we have a former gospel singer with her debut album (1959) with a "…consistently forceful delivery…" on such tunes as "The Lady is a Tramp", "Goody Goody", and "Baby, Won't You Please Come Home". With arrangements by Basie's "Atomic Period" Neal Hefti, and a brass-laden orchestra featuring the likes of Ernie Royal, Tyree Glenn, and Urbie Green, she became a tremendously popular exponent of the new style, blending gospel, jazz, and R&B, and sharing a commonality of approach with Dinah Washington or Ruth Brown at that time. As a bonus, there are 12 numbers, unreleased duplications of those on the album, but recorded several weeks earlier as demo tapes with only vocal and piano. JS

Bluebird 9026-63912-2


Lena Horne - "Stormy Weather"

RealAudio Sample


By the mid-50's, Lena Horne had already been a professional entertainer for over 25 years as a stage, screen, and recording artist. Yet the music here, drawn from an original LP "Stormy Weather", and various single releases (all from 1956-57), suggests her aspirations towards the world of Broadway and show tunes/standards written by the leading songwriters of the period: Cole Porter "From This Moment On", Rodgers & Hammerstein "A Cock-eyed Optimist", Noel Coward "Mad About The Boy", Lerner & Lowe "Wouldn't It Be Loverly". With orchestrations conducted by Lennie Hayton, and leading jazzmen of the day for support, e.g. Kenny Burrell/Urbie Green/Shorty Baker/Gene DiNovi, et al, Lena carves out yet another facet to her remarkable career. JS

Bluebird 9026-63911-2



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