Richard Vaughan

The 1958 session took place in Paris with Quincy Jones doing the arrangements and leading a 55-piece orchestra. To match up this large aggregation would be daunting for most singers. But with Vaughan's powerful operatic voice, it's no problem at all. Zoot Sims was present backing Vaughan and soloing on such cuts as "Misty." Also present was the rhythm section of Ronnell Bright on piano, Kenny Clarke on drums, and Richard Davis and Pierre Michelot sharing bass.

William Alwyn was a prolific composer with over sixty film scores, five symphonies, a couple of piano concertos, a variety of chamber music and a large number of miscellaneous pieces to his credit. At the heart of his music is an atmospheric pleasantness that is indentifiably British, but not necessarily in the same vein as Holst or Vaughan Williams, who adapted folk material into their music. While Alwyn didn't epitomize the English "pastoral" school, some critics did accuse him of being the "master of the art of nostalgia" - an unbalanced viewpoint in my opinion. Certainly strains of folk material are heard here and there in Alwyn, but his approach is more forward looking, modern if you will.

During the mid-'50s, Sarah Vaughan spent most of her time recording songbook standards backed by a large orchestra in florid arrangements, with only the occasional breath of fresh air like her masterpiece, 1954's Sarah Vaughan with Clifford Brown. Four years after that milestone, another landed with the live album At Mister Kelly's. Recorded quite early in the days of the live LP, the album captured Vaughan at her best and most relaxed, stretching out on a set of late-night torch songs and ballads. With a trio including Jimmy Jones on piano, Roy Haynes on drums, and Richard Davis on bass, Vaughan is simply captivating, easily disproving the notion that, to be entertaining, singers needed inventive arrangements and multiple voices (instrumental or otherwise) behind them…

Swingin' Easy is one of Sarah Vaughan's lesser known albums for Emarcy, combining two separate trio sessions from 1954 and 1957. The earlier date includes pianist John Malachi (who also worked with singers like Dinah Washington, Billy Eckstine, and Al Hibbler, plus bassist Joe Benjamin and drummer Roy Haynes. Vaughan's lush ballad technique is in full force in "Lover Man," "Polka Dots and Moonbeams," and "Body and Soul," while she scats in a midtempo setting of "If I Knew Then (What I Knew Now)" and her own "Shulie a Bop." The second trio include pianist Jimmy Jones, bassist Richard Davis, and Haynes. Aside from a brisk, miniature treatment of "Linger Awhile" and a playful setting of "I Cried for You," the session is highlighted by a breezy "All of Me." Vaughan is in terrific form throughout both dates, with the songs mostly running around the three-minute mark.

This wonderful CD is the product of the Chandos phenomenon; they find a neglected masterpiece that is unplayed and unknown, they record it brilliantly with a top class orchestra and conductor with soloists if appropriate and sell it to people like me, lovers of the English Musical Renaissance of the early part of the twentieth century. This CD contains well over an hour of the most tuneful and innovative music you can buy.

This wonderful CD is the product of the Chandos phenomenon; they find a neglected masterpiece that is unplayed and unknown, they record it brilliantly with a top class orchestra and conductor with soloists if appropriate and sell it to people like me, lovers of the English Musical Renaissance of the early part of the twentieth century. This CD contains well over an hour of the most tuneful and innovative music you can buy.

This wonderful CD is the product of the Chandos phenomenon; they find a neglected masterpiece that is unplayed and unknown, they record it brilliantly with a top class orchestra and conductor with soloists if appropriate and sell it to people like me, lovers of the English Musical Renaissance of the early part of the twentieth century. This CD contains well over an hour of the most tuneful and innovative music you can buy.