Sweet soul from Carmen McRae – a great 70s album for Blue Note, and one that has the classic singer moving into some very groovy material! The feel here is much more soul than jazz – at least the jazz of the torchy style from Carmen's roots – but as you'd guess from McRae, the vocals still bring plenty of great inflections to play – personalizing even familiar tunes, and really helping to push the level of an already-great record! Arrangements are by Gerald Wilson, Dave Grusin, Johnny Mandel, and Thad Jones – and the set includes Carmen's hip cover of "Can't Hide Love" – plus "I Wish You Well", "Only Women Bleed", "Lost Up In Loving You", "Would You Believe", "A Child Is Born", and "All By Myself". ~ Dusty Groove.
One of those great 70s records that really reminds us that, way past Burt Bacharach, Dionne Warwick's a heck of a great soul singer! The album's a bit more polished than some of her other post-Scepter efforts from the decade – yet still comes off quite well, with Dionne really stretching out vocally – and bringing a lot more to the table than might be expected. There's a few uptempo cuts that are a bit off the mark, but Warwick really shines on the mellow and midtempo numbers. Titles include "Who What When Where Why", "All The Time", "In Your Eyes", "Feeling Old Feelings", "Deja Vu", "I'll Never Love This Way Again", and "After You". CD features two bonus tracks – single versions of "Deja Vu" and "After You". ~ Dusty Groove
A sweet little album that serves up exactly what it promises in the title – a set of 60s pop tunes, all reworked by the jazz vocal artistry of Sarah Vaughan! The set's one of the most upbeat and bouncy that Vaguhan cut during the decade – and although you might know some of the tunes from the hit versions on oldies stations, Sarah's takes on the tracks are completely unique – very personal and transformative, especially since she's stretching out a lot more vocally than the famous singers of the songs. Luchi De Jesus handled the arrangements – and titles include "Make It Easy On Yourself", "Yesterday", "Little Hands", "Waltz For Debbie", "First Thing Every Morning", "He Touched Me", and "I Know A Place". ~ Dusty Groove
No comments:
Post a Comment