Some wonderfully overlooked artists are featured in the latest cache dug up by UK’s AVID Records. Listen to what you might have missed!
Betty Carter was one of the first female singers to do some serious experimentation with jazz vocals. She’s caught here in what were essentially her first four releases, and she sounds fairly tame, but you can feel her tugging on the reigns at times. Her 1955 debut along with pianist Ray Bryant as well as Milt Hinton, Conte Condoli and Jerome Richardson have her doing some impressive scatting on “Frenesi” and already pushing things a bit on “I Could Write a Book”. She meets with Benny Golson/ts, Gigi Gryce/as and Melba Liston/tb along with a hip rhythm section of Sam Jones/b, Wynton Kelly/p and Specs Wright/dr for some sparks flying on “You’re Driving Me Crazy” and a moody “But Beautiful” in 1958. Two years later she hits it just right with The Modern Sound of Betty Carter that has some glorious arrangements by Richard Wess on takes of “My Reverie” and “Remember.” Her famed duet with Ray Charles the next year has the disparate voices working comfortably well together on “Ev’ry Time We Say Goodbye,” “Takes Two to Tango” and the Christmas classic “Baby It’s Cold Outside.” A real hoot!
Billy Eckstine was the first black jazz vocalist to step away from the high toned falsetto and sound like a macho, macho, macho man with his molasses rich deep baritone of a voice. He teams up with a brassy Basie in 1959 for a wonderfully hard swinging set that includes his old hit “Jelly Jelly” in prime form and wonderfully maudlin material such as “Don’t Cry Baby.” He keeps the brass section polished again with Billy May as conductor during 1960’s Once More with Feeling where he pulls out all of the stops on “I Apologize” and “I Hear A Rhapsody.” Eckstine gets together with long time friend and fellow proto-bopping vocalist Sarah Vaughan for a fun reunion that includes a luscious read on “I Love You” and a sentimental “Always.” A 1961 gig with Quincy Jones’ orchestra hits like Sugar Ray on “Work Song” and a smoking Ellington medley.
Vocalist Anita O’Day was at her creative and interpretive zenith when she cut these albums in the 1950s. Her earliest session here, Singin’ and Swingin’ has her coming out like Rocky Balboa in the 15th round, looking for a fight! She shows how she can work a crowd at a 1958 show in Chicago with her trio that has pianist Joe Msters changing gears like the piano is a Ferrari on “Tea For Two” and she gets the joint jumping with a ribald “The Wildest Gal in Town.” Her 1959 tribute to Cole Porter with the hard hitting Billy May Orchestra is one of her absolute best with cooking takes of “It’s Delovely” and two intriguing versions of “Love For Sale.” Her two releases from 1961, All the Sad Young Men and Trav’lin’ Light show her stretching herself in terms of material like “You Came a Long Way from St. Louis” as well as fist pumpers like “Boogie Blues” which has her voice playing some amazing feats. Her tribute to the recently departed Billie Holiday has her in both small and big band settings with an exquisite take of “Don’t Explain” and a thoughtful “Remember.”
What can you say about Thelonious Monk, except that you need everything he touched from the 40s and 50s? This 2 cd set catches him in three different environments. 1956’s The Unique is a real treat as it’s the only time he did an entire album of standards, and it’s simply a gem. With Oscar Pettiford/b and either Art Blakey/dr or Kenny Clarke/dr he shines sparkling and prismatic light on pieces like “Liza” and “Honeysuckle Rose” making every standard song sound like a whole new world. 5 by Monk by 5 has him in a 1959 team of Thad Jones/p, Charlie Rouse/ts, Art Taylor/dr and Sam Jones/b playing Monk’s material like “Straight, No Chaser” and “I Mean You” with bebopping joy. The unique concert at Townhall also from 1959 has him in a fervent big band that includes Donald Byrd/tp, Pepper Adams/bs and Phil Woods and they give wondrous interpretations of “Thelonious,” “Monk’s Mood” and a take of “Little Rootie Tootie” that is like The Little Train That Could. The apotheosis of 20th Century music?
www.avidgroup.co.uk