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

1. BESSIE SMITH WAS, AND ALWAYS WILL BE, THE QUEEN OF THE BLUES. THESE ARE HER EARLIEST RECORDINGS, THE FIRST TWO CD'S IN A SET OF FIVE TWO CD SETS. THESE RECORDINGS WERE MADE IN 1923-24, AND EVEN THO' THEY ARE RAW, AND DON'T HAVE GREAT BACKUP, THE POWER OF HER VOICE CAN'T BE DENIED.



2. This is the first recording of Bessie Smith that I've owned and I'm not at all disappointed. On the contrary I'm so moved by her deep rhythms and the commanding presence of her voice. This collection is more mellow than I originally thought but, I think that is the beauty of the blues that Bessie sings. She truly is one unique woman. I play these cd's almost every evening and they really help me unwind. I would recommend this music, this remarkable woman.



3. The blues is not just a musical genre,some of the artists who have made this particular kind of music are without a doubt some of the most gifted performers of all time.Bessie Smith is such an individual and she was not without peer but certainly she was one of the best voices this genre(or any genre really)had to offer.These sides sound great and the transfers are of the highest quality allowing the listener to hear the emotion she sang with.
   This first set is the cream of the recordings she made...just voice and piano.I still think that when you want to showcase the peformer that this is how you do it....no tricks.Her phrasing and delivery are what sets her apart from the rest.If you have this already,then buy it for somebody you know that loves the blues.If you don`t own it,take a chance and you to will be amazed by this singular talent - Bessie Smith is where all roads lead to.



4. Listening to this CD set is like sitting in one of those smoke filled blues bars on in an old, old movie. I first heard Bessie Smith on a small town blues radio program - you know, one of those stations that gave an hour or two to different kinds of music, so the jockeys for the particular genre really know their stuff. Her voice really stood out from all the rest. It is smooth like Ella Fitzgerald but sorrowful and knowing. I am an Ella fan too, but Bessie has more IN her voice. I would love to have heard her sing some gospel because you can hear the pure power in her voice without her every really using it. It is like a deep river running slowly.

   The sound quality of the recording is ... well, have you ever listened to vinyl? It is like that, sort of. You can tell it is old. For me, though, that just adds to its charm. The accompanyment(sp?) is piano - no blaring horns or anything like that. This is slow, classic blues.




5. In my opinion Bessie Smith was not only one of the first, but the
   best. Bessie Smith blazed the trail which was followed by all of
   the great female blues singers.

   This complete set illustrates that ALL of her recordings became
   part of the foundation upon which the genre was built.

   I only have one regret. I bought the set on cassettes before I
   had a CD player! A problem that I plan to resolve in the very
   near future.

2 comments about Mrs. Clinkscales to the Cotton Club, Vol. 1: 1926-1.

1. JSP is well-known for issuing an artist's complete works covering a set time interval. This Ellington set is another attempt to meet that objective. While it appears at first glance from the title of this 4-CD package that Duke's earliest recordings occurred in 1926, they didn't. There are 4 titles here by the Washingtonians (the name of Duke's first band) from 1924 and 1925 which were issued on Blu-Disc (Choo Choo, Rainy Nights) and Pathe (I'm Gonna Hang Around, Trombone Blues).
   
   Duke had moved to New York (from Washington) by 1923 where he joined Elmer Snowden, the original leader of the Washingtonian's. In '24, Duke became the leader/arranger of the band and Snowden (the banjo and rhythm player) departed. Snowden was replaced by Fred Guy.
   
   It seems that JSP has committed a serious faux-pas by labelling the title of this CD as Volume 1 (1926-1929) instead of as 1924-1929. With an artist of Ellington's stature and fame, this type of error is not excusable. Additionally, the tracks are not compiled chronologically by recording date which would have made a lot more sense with this type of issue, listenability notwithstanding.
   
   The purchaser may also be given the impression from the title of this set that it covers all of Ellington's recordings through 1929. It doesn't. The final title on disc 4 (Doin' the Voom Voom) is from January 1929, although Ellington continued to record more than 2 dozen additional titles through December 1929.
   
   What you do get here is a lot of the earliest Ellington in decent sound considering that some of these titles were likely recorded acoustically, that show the development of this band from 6 players to a 12-piece orchestra. What is obvious right from the beginning, is that Ellington's genius as an arranger and writer were already in full bloom. As the band size increased, Ellington began to create parts that featured specific players in the band; those parts were written for both player and instrument as that player interpreted their instrument. The entrance of Johnny Hodges in 1928 playing soprano and alto sax was a case in point and certainly a milestone in the history of band jazz.
   
   Now that many of the earliest jazz titles from the French Classics label have been deleted (at least for the present time), this JSP set might not be a bad place to start for anyone interested in early Duke, and the price is very reasonable in view of the number of sides presented.
   
   Alternatively, there are better reissues out there (some of them mastered from the original 78 stampers). GRP, now Universal (the owners of the original Ellington Decca titles) has issued in very fine sound, a 3-CD set of the Ellington Decca sides from 1926-1931, many of which overlap the titles on the JSP set.
   
   It would appear then that JSP has haphazardly thrown together this set in a hurry, and as such, it ought to be re-done. Volume 2 of Duke's work by JSP is an attempt to continue but that is another story (and a poor attempt to continue Volume 1 at that).



2. Present here are the great Brunswick and Vocalion sides, from the 1926-1931 collection(highly recommended as a 3 CD set on GRP/Decca) as well as many many compositions from 1926-1929.This stellar JSP box has great sound,clarity with sufficient liner notes and recording history making it a necessary purchase capturing Duke at this early stage of the game.
   We are talking about collecting the other major labels of the time in their Duke output with all the great orchestras, Washingtonians,Cotton Club,Whoppe Makers,Harlem Footwarmers,Alberta Prime sides,Florence Bristol etc.
   Value from JSP is here like usual...

No comments about 1938-1939.

1 comments about American Legends No. 4: Mildred Bailey.

1. This one little CD is not enough. However, if you look at the used ones, you can see you can get one for a buck and change. Get that. Once you hear that you are going to have to have one of the multiCD box sets, because Mildred is so great you are always going to need, not just want, but NEED, more!
   
   Mildred Bailey was not just the first real female Jazz band singer. She was one of the earliest real jazz singers and she continued to have a jazz based strain to her singing throughout her career unlike some singers with her success who might have gone more pop. She was fun. She was fun. She was fun. She jived, she joked, she played. You are going to smile when you hear Mildred and know she is really serious when she is serious. She could bring out the jazz in the most wooden of accompaniest, but usually she had great musicians, white, black or otherwise playing behind her, because Mildred is fun.
   
   In an age before television, Bailey continued to have fans white and Black who did not know she was white. This remains true even recently when I have loaned tapes of Mildred to other African Americans without any liner notes or anything and had them ask why they had never heard of this great Black singer.
   
   However, I do find it distressing that Mildred Bailey seems to be so forgotten. She was the first prominent female band singer in Jazz. She was and is fun to listen to and a great voice. Mildred was actually able to swing and swing hard even with Paul Whiteman. She produced masterpieces using some of the same small groups as Billie Holday for HER Columbia recordings, although Bailey semed to prefer Herschal Evans to Lester Young. Bailey was also pretty out front for the time as a white female singer performing with an all black combo--"Mildred Baily and Her Oxford Browns." Mildred was simply magnificent in the small combos her husband Red Novro organized, She had a sense of humor about her performances and a bit of salaciousness that you won't find in Billie's recordings.
   
   I don't think it was just out of sentimentality, but in tribute to her artistry, that Sinatra and Bing Crosby (who owed his career to Bailey's bringing him in contact with Whiteman)spent thousands of dollars helping her out in the last years of her life when health problems and the end of her career led her to very hard times.
   
   Mildred was a great singer, a great jazz pioneer, and a lot of fun. How does anyone get along without the joy her music has brought to my life. There have been times when my life was worse than it is now when I was depressed and just thinking about one of Mildred's tracks on this CD started to turn my life around!

1 comments about American Songbook Series: Cole Porter.

1. authentic styling and voices. Cole Porter as written and played on Broadway. It's a look into the past that is still relevant. I'm happy I have it.

5 comments about Songs for Distingué Lovers.

1. Through the years, I have read critics write about Billie losing her voice
   as she got older - UTTER NONSENSE! Not on this recording. If anything, she gained feeling and emotional content due to living life.
   
   You would be hard pressed to put together a better group of sympathetic musicians from this period to back her, and to play such GORGEOUS solos.
   BEN WEBSTER, HARRY EDISON, BARNEY KESSEL, JIMMY ROWLES, RED MITCHELL, ALVIN STOLLER - Wow! These gentlemen were (are) a singers' dream to record with. Sinatra should have hired similar personnel when he formed REPRISE, but this is getting off track here.
   
   Like K.O.B.(for instrumental jazz), THIS RECORDING belongs near the top
   of anyone's Vocal collection.



2. If you like/appreciate alternative interpretations of songs.. BUY THIS CD! It made an immediate impression on me. I found it in the used bin after looking at it full price and I am soooo happy I did. First off the other reviewers are correct; tracks 1-6 create a mood unto themselves and are the original album. Track #7 and on are fun but are in a totally different mood. Second, if you are a jazz beginner, or appreciate more traditional interpretations of songs, you may not love this right off the bat. Billie is taking songs that have been sung hundreds of times before and putting her own inimitable stamp on them. She hints at meanings not originally there, turns melodies around, and in general gives these songs a new twist that no one to this day can match. If you are familiar with Ella Fitzgerald or Sarah Vaughn--they are going to offer you a more "pure" delivery. I love those singers too.. but Billie Holiday rises to a whole new plane on this album. She's singing in a way only she can.. and the only word I can think of to describe it is ART.



3. i am a 25 y'o black male i must say i have over 35 billie holiday cds and this one is # 2 on my list her voice is at it's best i think she did a good job at picking this songs to me billie holiday is the voice of jazz



4. As the back of the newly-remastered SONGS FOR DISTINGUE LOVERS appropriately points out, Billie Holiday's voice did change in her later years. It was much lower & richer in texture, but it was one coming from a life's worth of experience that left Billie both scarred yet still resonant as ever. While the subsequent 1959's LADY IN SATIN would make it all too clear that Billie was nearing the end, 1957's SONGS FOR DISTINGUE LOVERS indicates very little of her short time left & thus creates a masterpiece on the level of SATIN.

   The original album only contained 6 songs, kind of skimpy even for 1957, but those 6 songs were all longer than 4 minutes, so time constraints probably were the reason for that. Thanks to Verve Records' extensive reissue campaign, DISTINGUE is stretched out to 12 songs with 6 other songs cherry-picked from other albums. Naturally, old standards & Great American Songbook entries are the order of the day, but Billie proves even the best-worn songs are ripe for a reinvention & on DISTINGUE, she does an excellent job as always.

   Definitely the most represented songwriters on the album are George & Ira Gershwin & their always sophisticated tunes are rendered even more so thanks to Billie's gently-nuanced delivery. Only "A Foggy Day" was on the original album, while "Let's Call The Whole Thing Off" (taken at a brisk, very jazz-like tempo) & "They Can't Take That Away From Me" (probably the Gershwins' most sophisticated song) appeared on BODY & SOUL. "Love Is Here To Stay" was first found on ALL OR NOTHING AT ALL. With the Gershwins having been the epitome of class & elegance, their material goes hand in hand with Miss Holiday, who always exuded those qualities even during the darkest hours of her life.

   Cole Porter's "Just One Of Those Things" (an original album entry) is given a new lease on life thanks to Billie, proving no matter how many times a song has been done by as many artists, Billie makes it sound like it's being sung for the very first time. Rodgers & Hart's "I Didn't Know What Time It Was" (on the original) is given a very torch-song-based delivery, hinting at the just-plain-downhearted atmosphere of LADY IN SATIN. Johnny Mercer's (who also did a fair amount of recording on his own, making him one of the first singer-songwriters) "Day In, Day Out" & "One For My Baby [And One More For The Road]" (all on the original album) are given epic arrangements that are often longer than Billie's vocals, but the music is so accessible & warm, they allow you to just let it run.

   Other songs are written by people not as famous on a level as the previously-mentiond writers, but perhaps the songs themselves are well-known anyway. "Stars Fell On Alabama" (original album), "I Wished On The Moon" (on ALL OR NOTHING AT ALL & co-written by playwright Dorothy Parker), "Body & Soul" (on the album of the same name) & Moonlight In Vermont" (also on BODY & SOUL and probably well-known thanks to its constant cover versions) show the equal footing on which Billie & her band are making them stars on the same bill.

   By the time Billie Holiday made SONGS FOR DISTINGUE LOVERS in 1957, she was 42 years old, but had lived quite a lot in that relatively short amount of time. Because her voice was still in pretty good shape at this time, how it almost deteriorated by the time of LADY IN SATIN was definitely a shocker. Those who care to dive into Billie's later work may want to try SONGS FOR DISTINGUE LOVERS on for size before being brave enough to go for LADY IN SATIN (I did the opposite, to tell you the truth). Nevertheless, if you want music that's "distingue" all over (the music, the lyrics, the vocals, the songwriters), look no further than this.




5. This is not one of my favorite Holiday recordings.

   After reading some of the other reviews I feel like I missed something. Because, to me, she sounds tired and flat on this record, not her usual tricky, flirting, powerful self. The arrangements are too slick, too...tired, for me.

4 comments about Pop Music: The Early Years 1890-1950.

1. Got this item for an older Aunt and she was thrilled with the early songs.



2. What I most enjoy about this compilation is the obscurity of so much of the music. Most compilations tend to include the same music that is available on countless other collections. This features a great deal of tunes I'm sure most people do not own and in many cases probably never even heard before! If you enjoy the unusual...the different...give this compilation a try. It's not necessarily music you will just want to pop into the CD player and listen to straight through, but put it on shuffle with some other cd's and you have a wonderful counterpoint to more familiar music.



3. This album only has one track from 1890, Sousa's marching band. And another from 1911, Gene Greene. Then comes a 1918 recording from Nora Bayes. A wonderful compilation, but you might want to check out American Pop; Minstrel to Mojo, which does a better job with the 1910's.



4. You know all those songs you hear and you think, "old"? Not new wave old, not even rockabilly old--REAL old. Well, they're here on this great budget-priced collection, the songs that you hear nowadays on commercials, period movies, and re-runs of ancient cartoons: "Yes, Sir! That's My Baby"; "If You Knew Susie"; "Makin' Whoopee"; "Happy Days Are Here Again"; "Brother Can You Spare a Dime?"; "Prisoner of Love"; "Buttons and Bows"; and even "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. These and other great songs are beyond classification--they are part of American culture, something that all Americans share no matter what genre of music they prefer. If you're at all interested in the history of popular song, check this out. You'll find it irresistable.

2 comments about The Incomparable Ethel Waters.

1. A heat wave blew right into town last week,
   She came from the island of Martinique,
   The can-can she dances will make you fry
   The can-can is really the reason why
   
   We're having a heat wave,
   A tropical heat wave,
   The temperature's rising,
   It isn't surprising,
   She certainly can can-can.
   
   She started a heat wave
   By letting her seat wave
   In such a way that
   The customers say that
   She certainly can can-can.
   
   Gee, her anatomy
   Makes the mercury
   Jump to ninety-three.
   
   We're having a heat wave,
   A tropical heat wave,
   The way that she moves
   That thermometer proves
   That she certainly can can-can.
   
   Ethel Waters sang with great passion and she captivated her audiences wherever she went. Ethel was truly the first African-American superstar: she excelled in song, stage and motion pictures. Ethel pursued the fine arts never afraid of the touchy issues of racism and heated romantic moments. We are so much better off because Ethel shared her talent with us; and this CD is an excellent selection of some of her finest songs.
   
   Ethel was equally at home singing hot numbers about romance or belting out torch songs to describe the sadder feelings we all experience in love and life. The CD begins with the Irving Berlin classic "Heat Wave" recorded by Ethel in 1933 with Benny Goodman on trumpet. The musical arrangement is wonderful and Ethel's voice is rich, vibrant and full of energy. The CD takes a sharp 180 degree turn for the next track entitled "I Just Couldn't Make It, Baby." In this song Ethel expresses how she just can't forget a man for whom she has feelings. Ethel also performs "Stormy Weather" flawlessly with Tommy Dorsey on trombone and Jimmy Dorsey playing both clarinet and alto saxophone.
   
   Other classic songs on this CD include "(What Did I Do To Be So) Black And Blue?" which deals with racial issues and the singer's need for black pride; "Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone;" the very sassy "Maybe Not At All;" and the very romantic "Memories Of You."
   
   Ethel wasn't shy about taking on her rivals, either. "Harlem On My Mind" gently pokes fun at Josephine's Baker's style; and the lyrics to "Come Up And See Me Sometime" even go so far as to call Mae West "an Eskimo." "Come Up And See Me Sometime" is perfectly arranged as well. Ethel sings this number with Tommy Dorsey on trombone and Jimmy Dorsey on both clarinet and alto saxophone.
   
   Ethel's incredible entertainment continues. Ethel does a great rendition of "Cabin In The Sky" accompanied by Max Meth and his Orchestra. "Taking A Chance On Love" is absolutely beautiful; and the CD concludes with the playful and joyous "Honey In The Honeycomb." Excellent!
   
   The liner notes feature great black and white photos of Ethel Waters both on stage and at MGM with Duke Ellington during the filming of Cabin In The Sky in 1943. Donald Bogle contributes a fascinating essay about the tough personal life Ethel Waters endured as she entertained millions of people in the public eye.
   
   There will never be another Ethel Waters. When Ethel Waters sang you listened--and you listened closely, too, because she always gave 110% and she possessed an abundance of natural talent. Thank God for Ethel Waters--this lady graced us generously with her art!



2. Ethel Waters possessed one of the most breath-takingly gorgrous voices of our time, she also was a spectacular jazz singer. She did a great vocal version of Louis Armstrongs classic West End Blues! This cd will work as a good introduction to Ethel'scharming style of singing. She was technicly a swinging jazz singer, though her mannerisms were vaudevillian, such as the way she OVER-pernounces her r's, and how she rolls her R's. While other singers did that and sound dated today, it sounds charming when Ethel does it, and her vocie is just so pretty. One of the greatest singer sof all time.
   
   Interesting facts:
   Ethel Waters toured with Billy Graham's crusades in the 50's until she died, she became a Cgristian, and sang Gospel music in her later career!
   
   She also stars is an exellent film "Cabin in the Sky", which is worth finding and watching.

1 comments about The New Rules.

1. I found this one used at a bargain price and owning 2 other Irma Thomas Cds, I figured it was worth a shot. She sings every song here with everything she has and the arrangements are all pretty good. This is not a well known work but if you like her more popular works, you'll like this one too.

1 comments about Lover Man.

1. what will it take to convince Amazon that they MUST provide the date the original recording was made, NOT the date the transfer to CD was done?
   Tha later info. is basically worthless, the former essential to anyone at all knowlegeable and interested in the artist and the recording.
   Amazon get with it.