They are two of the greatest talents in UK popular music; whether she is singing her beloved jazz, ballads, or setting Shakespearean sonnets to Dankworth’s music; her voice resonates, clear and true. She is always supported by his Fine alto sax work and his sympathetic arrangements. Theirs is one oF the most durable partnerships in music as they began playing together in the mid-50's, before marrying in 1958.
2019 two CD set, the twelth volume in the So80s series. The finest collection of original classic 12" club & extended mixes.
"Celebrate the '80s in style" was the premise Blank & Jones started the So8os (So eighties) Project under circa ten years ago. Since then, the two '80s born artists have been digging through countless archives of old master tapes of legendary '80s maxi versions of famous songs for this series - building up an impressive fanbase while releasing 11 entries so far under the moniker So8os. Thanks to the massive renaissance of this colourful decade and the success of series such as Stranger Things also open to a broader and younger audience these days. Volume 12 includes tracks by Wham, Sheena Easton, Sade, Visage, New Order, Billy Joel, Saga and many others.
Historians and some Duke Ellington fans look askance at the brief period he spent on Capitol Records (1953-55). This was a hectic period in jazz, with bebop in the near-view, hard bop coming along as well, and the big band was considered by many to be a relic of bygone eras. Yet Ellington persevered, and not without another adversity: the temporary loss of signature alto player Johnny Hodges, who was off leading his own bands. The resulting five CDs worth of material collected here show an Ellington band more aimed at repetition, both of its own repertoire, which had sounded better in the 1940s, and of other bands' material.