No vocalist captures the essence of bebop better than Sarah Vaughan. Her range and dynamics were almost operatic, but with a sense of modern jazz that scores of singers have tried to imitate and emulate.
And wouldn’t you know it, simultaneously a pair of multi-disc anthologies have come out releasing her most important work. Which one to choose? Ava Gardner or Rita Hayworth?
Her Classic 1950s Albums has her 8 albums of the period on four cds. She hit the ground running in 1955 with two gems. In The Land Of Hi-Fi has her backed by an all-star band including Cannonball Adderley/as and she sears through “Cherokee” like a ravenous lion. Her eponymous follow-up teams her with the great Clifford Brown on trumpet, having her coo out a definitive read of “Lullaby of Birdland” and “April In Paris”. Next is a gorgeous collection of lush ballads, with her oozing through “Lush Life” and ”My Romance” while a recording with her working team of Jimmy Jones/p, Richard Davis/b and Roy Haynes/dr has her scatting like mad on “Shuli-Bop” and giving a hoot of “They Can’t Take That Away From Me.”, while a gig at Mr. Kelly’s with this team has her tear apart “How High The Moon” She teams up with old friend, baritone vocalist Billy Eckstine for some classy reads from Irving Berlin’s catalogue, such as “Cheek To Cheek”, while a gig with Count Basie’s Orchestra without its leader has her in fine form, scatting on “No Count Blues” or getting soulful on “Doodlin’”, with Sassy closing out with luscious support of violins arranged by Quincy Jones.. Crème de la crème.
Classic Early Albums, 1955-59 has all of these, except for the strings and concert gig, replacing them with the double album “Sings Broadway”, which has her in more of a mainstream mood. Both sets, either set, is essential if you want to know how a vocalist is supposed to do with a song, a lyric and a band.