Unlike most of today’s singers, the ladies from the early 60s had a mix of swing and swagger that must have come from the fact that there was no rock and roll yet to adulterate the delivery of standards. Here are a pair of vocalists that ooze with confidence and rhythm.
Toni Lee Scott teams up with Gerald Wiggins-Don Abney/p, Howard Roberts/g, Wilfred Middlebrooks-Red Callender/b and Jackie Mills/dr for some Anita O’Day inflected tenditions of standards. She’s got a bright tone, very trumpety, and a sultry mix of sauces as on “Ten Cents A Dance” and “Where’s The Boy I Saved For A Rainy Day”. She excels in bopping pieces like “Goody Goody” while goes misty on “Something Cool”. A little off the shoulders.
Ruth Price is better known as the impresario of the famed LA club The Jazz Bakery, and this 1963 album shows that she, too, knew how to work a room. She’s supported by Victor Feldman/p, Bob Whitlock/b and Colin Bailey/dr and exudes joy and enthusiasm on pieces like “Surrey With The Fringe On To”” and “I’m Gonna Laugh You Right Out Of My Life”. There’s a cheerfulness and optimism to her reads of “Just Because We’re Kids” and “The Night Has A Thousand Eyes” that is infectious. Definitely a “Betty” in the Archie Comics of jazz singers.