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Crotchet budget

Jazz Ballads With a Blues Feeling High Note HCD 6010

1. Ernie Andrews – Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool
2. Etta Jones – God Bless the Child
3. Sheila Jordan – Good Morning Heartache
4. Dakota Staton – Trav’lin’ Light
5. Mark Murphy – I’m Thru with Love
6. Wesla Whitfield – Ill Wind
7. Della Griffin – This Bitter Earth
8. Etta Jones – I’m Afraid the Masquerade is Over
9. Everett Greene – When Did You Leave Heaven
10. Dinah Washington – It’s Too Soon to Know
11. Wesla Whitfield – One for My Baby

The sleeve says;

This music is like love itself, It’s as much about joy as it is about longing. The singers that express themselves through these songs are like prophets-feel their pain, experience their euphoria. In time even the music itself will vibrate into memory, but the message will remain.

These words sum up this CD in a much more eloquent way than anything I may have thought of. It is a sublime album of jazz ballads, each one of the singers is in excellent voice and all have interestingly individual styles. This is a composite album taking individual items from various albums on the HighNote label. I am most impressed and anyone not familiar with this New York based operation should check them out on www.jazzdepot.com.

The backings to each track are in the hands of musicians of the calibre of Houston Person – tenor, Warren Vache – cornet, Richard Wyands – piano and Cameron Brown – bass and that is to pick out just a few from the many who play on the various tracks.

Houston Person deserves much credit for this compilation and production and I recommend it as late night listening, to anyone who still has romance in their soul and a feeling for jazz.

Don Mather

 

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