CD1
1. My Funny Valentine
2. The Touch Of Your Lips
3. ‘Swonderful
4. Tenderly
5. It’s Magic
6. Honey
7. Let’s Put Out The Lights (And Go To Sleep)
8. I’m In The Mood For Love
9. I Don’t Know Why (I Just Do)
10. Paradise
11. Time On My Hands
12. Gimme A Little Kiss (Will Ya, Huh?)
13. Make Yourself Comfortable
14. Mr Wonderful
15. I Wanna Play House
16. My One And Only Love
17. Oh Yeah
18. And This Is My Beloved
19. Whatever Lola Wants (Lola Gets)
20. The Other Woman
21. Experience Unnecessary
22. Johnny, Be Smart
23. Old Devil Moon
24. It’s Easy To Remember
25. Idle Gossip
26. Sometimes I’m Happy
CD2
1. A Tree In The Park (Peggy Ann)
2. Little Girl Blue (Jumbo)
3. Comes Love (Yokel Boy)
4. But Not For Me (Girl Crazy)
5. My Darling, My Darling (Where’s Charley?)
6. Lucky In Love (Good News)
7. Autumn In New York (Thumbs Up)
8. It Never Entered My Mind (Higher And Higher)
9. If This Isn’t Love (Finian’s Rainbow)
10. The Touch Of Your Hand (Roberta)
11. Homework (Miss Liberty)
12. Bewitched, Bothered And Bewildered (Pal
Joey)
13. Dancing In The Dark (The Bandwagon)
14. September Song (Knickerbocker Holiday)
15. A Ship Without A Sail (Heads Up)
16.. Lost In The Stars (Lost In The Stars)
17. It’s Got To Be Love (On Your Toes)
18. All The Things You Are (Very Warm For May)
19. Poor Butterfly (The Big Show Of 1916)
20. Let’s Take An Old Fashioned Walk (Miss Liberty)
21. My Heart Stood Still (One Dam Thing After
Another/A Connecticut Yankee)
22. He’s Only Wonderful (Flahooley)
23. They Say It’s Wonderful (Annie Get Your
Gun)
24. My Ship (Lady In The Dark)
Sarah
Vaughan was a jazz singer, although you might
not guess it from some of the tracks on this
compilation. The recordings date from the
mid-fifties and many of them accompany Sarah
with a lush string orchestra, which often
makes her sound more a pop singer than a jazz
diva. This tendency is accentuated by some
awful songs, such as Honey, performed
with coy backing vocals and an unsubtly cheeky
arrangement (as well as some clunking lyrics
like "Every day would be so sunny, honey").
Oh Yeah is equally embarrassing – an
adaptation of a classical melody, with a male
chorus shouting "Oh yeah!" at regular
intervals. And I Want to Play House
has a backing that unnecessarily underlines
every phrase with screeching strings.
Some
tracks are better – notably those which employ
a jazz group instead of glutinous strings.
Sometimes I’m Happy uses a big band
conducted by Ernie Wilkins, allowing Sarah
to float at ease on the swinging accompaniment.
If This Isn’t Love benefits from the
similar punch in the backing. The first CD
consists of the albums Make Yourself Comfortable
and Wonderful Sarah, topped and
tailed by two extra tracks. The second CD
contains the two 1956 volumes of Sarah’s Great
Songs from Great Shows, with songs by
such masters as Rodgers & Hart, Irving
Berlin and the Gershwin brothers giving the
vocalist more worthy material for her talents.
It’s good to hear some very worthwhile but
neglected songs - like A Ship Without a
Sail, where Sarah’s long-held final note
is a wondrous thing.
Sarah
Vaughan was nicknamed "The Divine One"
because she could sing with almost heavenly
perfection. Her intonation, improvisation
and expressiveness were generally impeccable,
and her vocal range was remarkable. Occasional
slips (like singing "The dearest thing
I know Are what you are" in All the
Things You Are) are exceptions that prove
the rule. Even on the string-laden tracks,
Sarah manages to capture your attention with
her professionalism and the quality of her
voice. She shines on a slow, rather soupy
ballad like I Don’ Know Why (I Just
Do) because she takes jazzy liberties
with the melody.
At
its budget price, this double album is worth
buying but it hardly deserves its title of
"The Essential Collection". An essential
collection would include much more of Sarah
singing with small jazz groups, as well as
duetting with Billy Eckstine.
Tony Augarde
CD Reviews
Avid
AVC 915
