The Sony Music Group is doing an impressive job cleaning out its attic and bringing some obscure material out for the world to see. Recently, they’ve put out box sets of Dexter Gordon, Weather Report, Woody Shaw, Duke Ellington and Bessie Smith, just to get things started. Most of these sets have featured the artists in a setting of continuous years. Sarah Vaughan’s 4 cd set skips a 30 year heartbeat, so you get the Hall of Fame vocalist in not only a variety of settings and moods, but with the vigor of youth and the wisdom of age.
The first cd, After Hours with Sarah Vaughan (from 49-52) is not to be confused with the 62 session with just a guitarist and bassist. This one has her in more of a noirish-pop setting, yet still with some jazzers like George Van Eps/g, Nick Fatool/dr, Ziggy Elman/tp, Mundell Lowe/g and even Bud Powell/p as a ringer on “Think of You.” While most of the material such as “Deep Purple” and “My Reverie” are gentle mood pieces, she does let loose a bit on “I Cried for You” and hits it right on during a hot little “Perdido.” The 1955 Sarah Vaughan in Hi-Fi is the most jazzy of the lot here on this collection of ballads and torch songs; it’s hard to go wrong with a team of Miles Davis, Benny Green, Budd Johnson, Jimmy Jones, Billy Tayor and JC Heard. Vaughan glows on “Mean To Me,” The Nearness of You,” and “Come Rain or Come Shine.” The sound quality leaves a bit to be desired, with some pops here and there. Nevertheless, vintage Sassy here.
Disc 3 moves us up to 1982 like Back to the Future, as Vaughan is backed by the LA Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas, who accompanies her also on piano for a concert at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. Also supported by a rhythm section that includes Andy Simpkins, Vaughan delivers a semi-classic collection of Gershwin tunes like “The Man I Love,” and a few medleys that go from Porgy and Bess to “But Not For Me.” The last disc is one of the last sessions for the Divine One, as she focused on South American music during the close of her career. This one, Brazilian Romance from 1987 includes Dori Caymmi/g and George Duke/key for some glossy full production numbers. Most successful are Caymmi’s “Photograph” and “Nothing Will Be As It Was” which includes a nice solo by Ernie Watts. A bit of everything that was the prismatic music brought to us by one of jazz’s finest.
Sony Music