One of the classiest gents of the 50s R&B set was singer/pianist Ivory Joe Hunter (1914-1974). He had a piano style imbibed from Fats Waller, and a sense of musical arranging akin to Duke Ellington, even hiring some Ellingtonians for his earliest recordings. This 2 disc, 51 song collection, features the master of the blues ballads, singing with a Stan Getzian mellifluous tone, seducing you with an easy lilt to each song.
There’s an irresistible sway to his delivery, almost creating a hook to his biggest hits l ike “I Almost Lost My Mind” , “I Need You So” and the eternal “Since I Met You Baby”. There’s a smoothness to his pulsating grooves, gentlemanly on “It’s A Sin”, “S.P Blues”, “Empty Arms” and “A Hurting Game” with the saxes rolling like a gentle wave. He could lay down a Kansas City beat as well, as on “Leave Her Alone” and dig deep into the blues on “Wrong Woman Blues”, wailing on “I Feel So Good”.
He was never a stranger to do-wop, giving teen anthems like You Can’t Stop This Rocking And Rolling” or “you Flip Me Baby” and could even bring a chorus under Ray Ellis’ direction on “Everytime I Hear That Song” while his hands could boogie with the best as on ”You Mean Everything To Me”. Some people want to blues to feel down and out, but if you like them to cheer you up, you can’t go wrong with this collection by the man dubbed “The Happiest Man Alive”.