Sarah Vaughan

This set features the great Sarah Vaughan in a typically spontaneous Norman Granz production for Pablo with pianist Oscar Peterson, guitarist Joe Pass, bassist Ray Brown, and drummer Louie Bellson. Sassy sounds wonderful stretching out on such songs as "Midnight Sun," "More Than You Know," "Teach Me Tonight," and "Body and Soul," among others. All ten of the melodies are veteran standards that she knew backwards but still greeted with enthusiasm. A very good example of late-period Sarah Vaughan.

This 1954 studio date, a self-titled album recorded for Emarcy, was later reissued as Sarah Vaughan with Clifford Brown to denote the involvement of one of the top trumpeters of the day. Vaughan sings nine intimate standards with a band including Brown on trumpet, Herbie Mann on flute, and Paul Quinichette on tenor, each of which have plenty of space for solos (most of the songs are close to the five-minute mark). Vaughan is arguably in the best voice of her career here, pausing and lingering over notes on the standards "April in Paris," "Jim," and "Lullaby of Birdland." As touching as Vaughan is, however, Brown almost equals her with his solos on "Lullaby of Birdland," "Jim," and "September Song," displaying his incredible bop virtuosity in a restrained setting without sacrificing either the simple feeling of his notes or the extraordinary flair of his choices…

Sarah Vaughan brings an almost chameleon-like presence to this album, which encompasses a decidedly – almost defiantly – contemporary repertory. Her gospel approach to "Imagine" could only have delighted John Lennon at the time, while for "Inner City Blues" she embraces a fiercely soulful jazz approach, the horn accompaniment in particular romping over the tune as much as she does. And on "Sweet Gingerbread Man" she turns in the purest pop vocal performance. And so it goes, across a wide range of songs, climaxing with an amazingly intense and dramatic rendition of Bob Dylan's "If Not for You."

This 1954 studio date, a self-titled album recorded for Emarcy, was later reissued as Sarah Vaughan with Clifford Brown to denote the involvement of one of the top trumpeters of the day. Vaughan sings nine intimate standards with a band including Brown on trumpet, Herbie Mann on flute, and Paul Quinichette on tenor, each of which have plenty of space for solos (most of the songs are close to the five-minute mark). Vaughan is arguably in the best voice of her career here, pausing and lingering over notes on the standards "April in Paris," "Jim," and "Lullaby of Birdland." As touching as Vaughan is, however, Brown almost equals her with his solos on "Lullaby of Birdland," "Jim," and "September Song," displaying his incredible bop virtuosity in a restrained setting without sacrificing either the simple feeling of his notes or the extraordinary flair of his choices.

This double recital, recorded on 9 November 1969 at the Berlin Philharmonic, takes place at a very special time in Sarah Vaughan's life. To everyone's astonishment, the small, awkward 45-year-old gave one of the most masterful stage performances of her career that could be captured on tape. In almost two hours she silenced all misgivings by proving how her approach to music remained eminently topical. Surrounded with an elegance as discreet as it is stimulating by a trio that is a master in the art of understatement, free of mannerisms, still as virtuosic as ever, developing her vocal technique to its highest degree throughout her incredible tessitura, between naturalness and sophistication, simplicity and refinement, Sarah Vaughan shakes things up. Sarah Vaughan resolutely favours sentimental melodies, making her warm, supple, suave and swinging voice the ultra-sensitive seismograph of the whole range of mixed feelings.

In the early '60s, the U.S. government came up with the idea to tape jazz instrumentalists and vocalists for special programs aimed at recruiting young men for the National Guard. While it seems puzzling that male teenagers of the era would be drawn to the likes of Sarah Vaughan and Woody Herman, both of whom are heard in this program, the music is superb. Vaughan's vocals are on the money throughout, especially in the lush treatment of "On Green Dolphin Street" (with Herman's clarinet in the background), along with one of her most requested numbers, "Poor Butterfly." Herman's instrumentals include a swing version of "Muskrat Ramble," along with oft-requested numbers like "Woodchopper's Ball" and "Four Brothers"…

This lavish reissue of Vaughan's 1957 double LP displays a Gershwin different in tone from Ella Fitzgerald's better-known one. Naturally more elastic in her interpretations than Fitzgerald, Vaughan also manages a more intimate tone perhaps better suited for the later hours of late-night listening. Hal Mooney's arrangements wisely alternate between full-blown orchestral backing and a more rhythmic emphasis, as on "I'll Build a Stairway to Paradise," which would have fit right in with the singer's string of pop hit singles. Most impressive, though, are Vaughan's intuitively touching readings of ballads like "I've Got a Crush on You," "The Man I Love," and "A Foggy Day": no matter how many recordings of them exist, these must stand near the top of the stack. The original album is augmented here by 13 incomplete takes from one of the sessions.