1 comments about Bessie Smith: The Complete Recordings, Vol. 3.

1. Bessie Smith, "Empress of the Blues," is largely known today because alcoholic blues-screamer Janis Joplin based her style on her. As a result, Bessie went from the province of the specialty collector to being a mainstream "blues" artist with almost as many imitators as the Beatles. (Elvis is a whole different galaxy.) In the year 2003, then, Bessie Smith - not Enrico Caruso - is the most-listened-to early recording artist. In a way this is good, since we went from a recreative artist to a very creative one; but this has also skewed our perspective on the blues-singing era.

   Bessie had a huge, bronze voice of enormous expressivity and power. On some of these records, just listening to her delivery will send goosebumps down your spine. But truthfully, she only had one good octave in the voice, a deficiency she hid quite well by pitching her songs a certain way and then "playing around" with the notes so she didn't have to go too low (or, in some cases, too high). This is why other artists during this era were more highly prized by others. Bix Beiderbecke once threw $50 at his idol, Ethel Waters; Connee Boswell based her style on Mamie Smith (no relation); Alan Ginsburg preferred Bessie's mentor, Ma Rainey; and other singers and musicians like Ida Cox, Clara Smith and Victoria Spivey better. Bessie was a huge star and could hypnotize an audience, but she was NOT as universally admired as we now believe.

   This compilation covers her best years, 1926-28, and has the highest percentage of excellent recordings. The sad thing is that no one- or two-disc compilation covers her best recordings. One can usually spot the "great" Bessie Smith records not just by how well her voice recorded but also by the fire and commitment of her delivery, and sometimes that happened in pop or show songs like "Squeeze Me," "Alexander's Ragtime Band," "Jazzbo Brown from Memphis Town" (written by the Gershwin brothers and DuBose Heyward, NOT by "G. Brooks" as listed on the CD label!) or "At the Christmas Ball." Too many Bessie recordings (like too many female blues recordings in general) fall into the "my-man-done-beat-me-and-treat-me-like-dirt-but-I-love-him-anyway" category.

   The shame of it is, Bessie's best recordings can be boiled down to three CDs, but no one has done this so far. Columbia's repackaging is both wasteful and expensive, allowing only 18 or 19 tracks per CD when they could have allowed 24 and done the whole project in 7 CDs instead of 10. The booklets are lavish, however, and include rare photos of some of Bessie's best accompanists, including the great cornetist Joe Smith and the elusive pianist Fred Longshaw.

2 comments about Come a Little Closer.

1. I ORIGINALLY BOUGHT THIS CD BASED UPON HEARING ONE SONG: "OUT ON THE STREET AGAIN". THIS SONG IS A MASTERPIECE; MUCH LIKE THE SONG "MASTERPIECE" BY THE TEMPTATIONS, ONLY THIS SONG GOES MUCH MUCH DEEPER. THE FUNK IS UNMATCHED, AND COULD BE LISTENED TO A THOUSAND TIMES IN A ROW, AND YOU'D NEVER BE BORED. NEXT, THERE IS "FEELING UNEASY". THIS IS A BLUESY NUMBER THAT SNEAKS UP ON YOU, GRABS YOU BY THE GUT, AND DOES NOT LET YOU GO. THIS IS SONG WHICH HAS ETTA JAMES MOSTLY MOANING, BUT IT'S A GOOD MOAN. IT IS A BLUES CLASSIC THAT EVERY HUMAN BEING SHOULD LISTEN TO WHEN THEY'RE FEELING A LITTLE BIT DOWN AND OUT. IT WILL PICK YOU RIGHT BACK ON UP, AND MAKE YOU REALIZE THAT YOU ARE NOT ALONE IN THE UNIVERSE--ETTA JAMES IS RIGHT THERE WITH YOU. THERE ARE 12 SONGS IN ALL IN THIS CD, AND 11 OF THEM ARE COMPLETE WINNERS. IN ADDITION TO DOWN IN THE VALLY GUTBUCKET BLUES, FANTASTIC RHYTHM AND BLUES, AND FUNK OVERLOADS, THERE IS ALSO A GREAT NEW ORLEANS STYLE JAM ("GONNA HAVE SOME FUN TONIGHT") ON IT, TOO. I REALLY CAN'T SAY ENOUGH GOOD THINGS ABOUT THIS CD, EXCEPT I PASSIONATELY LOVE IT, AND I'M SURE YOU WILL LOVE IT TOO. ETTA JAMES ALWAYS ROCKS THE HOUSE!!!



2. Whenever one is to discover Etta James...they first must complete the sampling of 2 recordings. Come a Little Closer and Deep in the Night. Without, you haven't heard what Miss James is really all about. Come a little closer captures her raw, with a deep delta feel that is enhanced by song writers, producing and as always, background singers.

   Particular to this Cd is the title track, come a little closer....deep growls, fierce vocal affectation that is souly Etta and a production which is only slightly polished. It, at it's best lets Etta sing...after all that is what she does best. The orgasmic sound of Feeling Uneasy is the only true song the lets you know that a true lover hesitates at nothing to believe...and to believe in Etta James, one need to listen to no other recording to hear her at her most vulnerable and unigue best!

2 comments about Broke, Black and Blue.

1. This boxed set provides an excellent opportunity to add breadth to any blues collection. It's also an oustanding bargain at the price.
   
   For the most part the compiler offers just one track per performer or group, with the tracks arranged in chronological order. The first two discs range from 1925 to late in 1930, the third covers the 1930's. The final disc changes the pattern. After five blues by different artists from the early 1940's we settle into multiple jump blues from Les Brown, Jimmie Gordon and Johnny Temple.
   
   Until this final disc, however, the range is enormous, with a sprinkling of famous titles amid a wonderful array of undeserved obscurities. For the most part the sound is highly acceptable given the age and occasional rarity of the originals.
   
   There's a substantial and useful booklet of about 40 pages, with full commentary and exhaustive discographic detail, as one should expect.
   
   Even at the risk of a certain amount of duplication this is an excellent compilation, either for people new to this wonderful genre, or to those with greater experience. Unless you're remarkably expert, it's certain to widen horizons and introduce you to unfamiliar treasures. Buy it with confidence.



2. This Box set is a treasure.Great collection of early recorded blues.Fantastic!

5 comments about The Earthshaker.

1. Koko Taylor is a living legend! The blues has been so commercialized and copied that we often do not recognize it in its essential forms. Koko Taylor is an earth-shaking embodiment of the blues tradition. She is the real deal. Straight up without a chaser. Get this album wherever you can find it and listen to it over and over. Koko Taylor will heal your soul and give you a spiritual education in living in the world. When I listen to her version of "Let the Good Times Roll" I don't want to hear anybody else sing it again. You will travel to some pretty deep and scary places listening to her sing "Walking the Backstreet" but you will emerge emboldened to live and love life to the fullest!



2. This CD was recorded in the late 1970s and featured a veteran band. The sound quality is a little thin and has less bottom than her more recent recordings. Song quality is spotty. A good CD not one of her best



3. There is barely a single weak moment on Koko Taylor's 1978 LP.
   Sure, her remakes of "I'm A Man" (as "I'm A Woman") and "Wang Dang Doodle" are less than innovative, but everything else is just plain great. And Taylor is backed by an excellent little combo which includes guitarists Johnny Moore and Sammy Lawhorn, saxist Abb Locke, and the legendary Joe "Pinetop" Perkins on the piano.
   
   Nobody can really cover Howlin' Wolf and get away with it, but Koko Taylor does as good as anybody on a really solid "Spoonful", and her swaggering renditions of Mel London's "Cut You Loose" and the saucy Irma Thomas-single "You Can Have My Husband" are just magnificent.
   "Let The Good Times Roll" and "Hey Bartender" still pop up on her set list today, and the self-penned slow blues "Please Don't Dog Me" is one of Taylor's best original songs.
   You really can't go wrong with any of Taylor's excellent recordings for Alligator records, but this one is as good as any of them, a must-have for fans, and casual listeners should find a lot to love as well. "The Earthshaker" is one great, well-arranged blues record with plenty of highlights and virtually no let-downs.



4. Koko Taylor can sing. Starting off with Let The Good Times roll. That lets you know that this record is just getting started. Then with wIllie dixons Spoonful.Next Little Miltons Walking the Back streets.hey Bartender,Then I'm a Woman then irma Thomas's You can have My husband then Please don't dog me and finally she ends with her signature. whoooo All of those songs I just listed were THE BOMB. Oh wait a minute all of those songs I just listed was the whole album. Koko singing with all of her energy. Lord if you could hear Koko now. Koko really defines her self with this record.



5. If you want one album to introduce new listeners to Koko Taylor or Blues done by women this is the one. It contains her best known songs done very well. The album is a little shorter than it could be - I'd have liked to see "Sure had a wonderful time last night", "Come to Mama" or "I can love you like a woman" in there. But it rocks. And so does The Queen.

No comments about The First Esquire Concert: The Jazz Collector Edition.

3 comments about Black-Eyed Blues.

1. Little Esther,this is the one to hole up with when life has done you wrong,the boss is a beast, the man bought golf clubs with the money put away for serious stuff,the mother-in-law made a crack about any skill I have,total funkdom. Sometimes I have to listen twice for the recovery from self-pity but it always works and I return sassy,a touch crusty and ready to take it all on again.Good Stuff.



2. This whole disc is just so delicious. Not only to my subjective ears, either. Whenever I'm playing this in my salon, my customer always asks, "Who IS that?" Each song is different, gorgeously produced with a big, soulful 1970s sound that Creed Taylor had imagined would unite Jazz with R&B. And what amazing songs: starting with the angry "Justified"-"'cuz when I met ya, baby, Florence Nightingale shoulda been your Nurse but ole Red Cross Me, I'm gonna take the job but now I think I'm to the point I need one myself, really!" Mmm! Carolyn Franklin (Aretha's sister) wrote "Too Many Roads Between Us" surely up there with "Neither One of Us..." as one of the saddest love songs ever. "You Could Have Had Me..." by Leonard Feather could have been seedn as kissing up to the auther of The Jazz Encyclopedia so Esther hangs out on the song for almost eight minutes and finds meat never thought to be on that bone! "I've Only Known A Stranger" Wow! Breath taking. Old style Jazz with Duke Ellington's "I Got It Bad" but feel it, funk it, make it new. Go Esther! A big surprise for us old people who used to listen to Esther on LP or 8track- a NEW song "Tangle In Your Lifeline" is as personal and lovely as anything whe ever recorded. When I bought this cd, it was only available as an import at $22.95. Now you can get it for under $11! What are you waiting for?



3. This was the third album that Esther cut for Creed Taylor's CTI album. It marked a change from the previous two in that the string arrangements were undertaken for the first time with this artist, by Bob James; it's a subtle but very important change. Secondly the material stretches out from the straight-ahead R&B to embrace a range of varying styles. This being the case, the album is not as 'immediate' as the previous two, but is just as satisfying when it yields all its nuances. My favourite tracks are her reading of Bill Wither's "Justified" which is a great version.There's a particularly sensual and burning version of "I've only known a stranger" and a straight ahead jazz version of Leonard Feather's "You could have had me baby".While I'm writing about it I should also mention the title track, which is a Joe Cocker track given a particularly good makeover. That's four out of the seven tracks mentioned already, so when you consider that there's a bonus unreleased track as well out of the remaining three,it makes you realise what good value it is. Add in an excellent set of sleeve notes, and this is another 'must have' Esther Phillips album!

5 comments about Great Ladies Sing the Blues.

1. Great Ladies Sing the Blues is a very strong CD that features some of the best songbirds ever singing timeless blues songs. The sound quality is very good and the artwork impresses me also.
   
   The CD opens with Billie Holiday singing "Good Morning Heartache." Billie's more mature voice is able to covey her pain so clearly; and her voice is still clear as a bell. Her excellent diction and her uncanny sense of timing enhance Billie's performance all the more. Ella Fitzgerald, the First Lady Of Song, also does a smashing job on "Love For Sale." "Love For Sale" features Ella at her very best and she never misses a beat! Ella's voice is very distinctive and "Love For Sale" is easily a major highlight of this album.
   
   Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong team up for a stunning rendition of "Summertime" from Porgy And Bess; and the strings are used to great advantage! I love how Louis Armstrong rally plays that horn--it's incredible. He could sing well, too! Billie Holiday then returns to sing a whoppingly awesome version of "My Man." "My Man" sounds better than ever when Billie sings it; she is able to use her vocal talents to make this number shine brighter than gold!
   
   In addition, Dina Washington performs "Cry Me A River;" I always loved this song and when Dinah Washington sings it it's all very pretty. The strings sound great and Dinah sings this very professionally. Julie London, who sang this song often, would be proud! Nina Simone also sings "Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out" to perfection--and beyond! The title is so true I can't tell you how true it really is. "Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out" is a brilliant blues tune that Nina Simone enhances even further with her excellent interpretation of this classic song.
   
   Shirley Horn performs "I Got It Bad And That Ain't Good;" "I Got It Bad And That Ain't Good" has an elegant piano arrangement that complements Shirley's vocals flawlessly. Shirley Horn was always a great songbird and just one listen to this proves it! Sarah Vaughan also weighs in with a sublime rendition of "The Man I Love." Sarah sings this with great sensitivity and I am very impressed. The CD also ends very well with Anita O'Day singing "God Bless The Child." "God Bless The Child" makes a strong ending; Anita sings this with a guitar arrangement that can't be any better than this!
   
   Great Ladies Sing The Blues is an excellent album of the blues sung by some of the greatest songbirds ever. I highly recommend this album for fans of those timeless blues songs. You won't be disappointed.



2. Yes, these are great ladies but they are not singing the Blues. They are singing Jazz. As far as a Jazz album goes, I rate this 5 STARS.
   As a Blues musician, I was truely disappointed that the producer of this CD listed it as a Blues album. There's not a Blues lick on this album.
   If you're looking for great ladies to sing the Blues, don't look here. If you're looking for great ladies to sing slow sad Jazz, you found it.
   There are those people that will disagree with me on this CD. I have read the previous reviews. I'll state again, as far as a Jazz CD, absolutely wonderful. I highly recommend. As far as a Blues CD, no way.
   Seeing as I am not a big fan of Jazz, I have listed my copy of this CD on Amazon.com to sell as "Like new." Someone out there will enjoy this CD.



3. For someone who has always liked the blues, but doesn't quite know why, this CD helps make it clear. It's because of the way it makes you FEEL. The sultry, beautiful release it gives you, with all the female greats (plus Louis!), makes cooking, gardening, even paying bills a treat. Your hips will sway. You will bellow out along with them. Go for it.



4. Morgana King's "I Know How It Feels To Be Lonely" alone is worth the price of this brilliant CD. This collection possesses an etheral quaility that presents Blues at its quintessential best. Sara Vaughn and Nina Simone also shine like bright and radiant stars.



5. my favs would have to be "cry a river" and "i know how it feels to be lonely". this cd is packed with the best voices and puts you in another place...there are an abunance of other songs that coul dhave been included or substituted, but because there was a vast selection, the ones presented made an overall statement. if you have never explored this genre then this is a good one to get your feet wet

No comments about Love Songs.

No comments about The Complete Jerome Kern Songbooks.

5 comments about Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.

1. The version I have is the small box and was listening to it the whole day today.The sound is not bad at all. Actually, It is quite good.
   The music is great capturing Armstrong in a period that was so instrumental in defining Jazz and the roots of New Orleans Music.
   The selections are a good sampler for further in depth listening of releases that are available.It all adds up to a totally enjoyable experience.
   There are various surprises and probably hard to find cuts.
   For those interested in further cd's I heartily recommend The Complete Hot 5's(both JSP and Columbia are fine to my ears.The JSP may sound better with some post live selections not on Columbia's box, while the Columbia book is great and has a few alternate sides if I am not mistaken and is a lavish affair),King Oliver's Complete sessions(The Dutch 2 cd set on Challenge),Louis Big Band recordings(JSP)that completes the 30's, and the 7 selections from the Red Onion Babies found on Milestone/Jazz Heritage King Oliver and Lois Armstrong cd that duplicates most of King Oliver's complete set mentioned above except the Red Onion Baby selections. Also Breaking Out Of New Orleans(JSP) is top ranking as far as sound and selection and overall quality of this genre offering quality from many bands from 1922-1929(It also has 4 selections from the Red Onion Babies found on Louis Armstrong/King Oliver cd).
   The book inside this CD is wonderful as well.



2. I have to disagree completely with the previous reviewer. The JSP set sounds way better than these sets (I own both). Also, you cant compare this set with the JSP set in terms of content. The JSP set only includes recordings with the hot five and sevens. On this set, only 2 of the 4 CD's include that material. The rest is stuff recorded earlier as a sideman or later with RCA. Everything in this set is gold of the highest order. But the remastering is no longer the best it could be.



3. Louis Armstrong is the greatest artist of the 20th century. Don't die without hearing "West End Blues". In fact, don't live one more day without this CD. I know what you're thinking. I looked at the years this box set covers and I thought, "Oh no. 4 CD's of 78s." The truth is the sound is tinny. And the truth is it doesn't matter.



4. "Louis Armstrong: Portrait of the Artitst as a Young Man"

   This is the set of recordings that announced that jazz had matured to the level of an art form. The Hot Fives and Sevens, featuring the always brutally underrated Earl Hines (not to mention Johnny Dodds), is the fiery core of Planet Jazz. Louis' trumpet was never better, and with this small group in Chicago, Prince Armstrong took King Oliver's crown.

   From the first to the last of this four disc set, there is a level of invention and innovation that can only be compared to the bebop revolution of the early 1940s. These superlative remarks aside, the music is a lot of fun to listen to, from the classics like "Potato Head Blues", "Struttin' with Some Barbeque", "Chimes Blues", "Weather Bird", "Sugar Foot Stomp", both takes of "Stardust", "Cornet Chop Suey", "Tight Like This" and the greatest of them all, "West End Blues."

   King Armstrong he would have been called had he stayed in New Orleans. And who knows if he'd have been any more famous than Freddie Keppard today.

   Instead, he's a beloved legend by both jazz hardcores and most if not all Americans (plus millions worldwide). He stands only alongside Bach and Beethoven in the pantheon.




5. The most complete collection of the most important work by the most dominant American musician of the first half of the 20th century.

   Too much hype?

   Trust me, this is a great collection, worthy of that hype. These are the recordings that cemented Armstrong's reputation as the most important instrumentalist of the age.