NANCY WILSON - Lush Life (1967-1995) RM / FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Nancy Wilson was one of the few jazz-based pop singers of the 1960s who was able to navigate that decade's rock & roll-crazed waters and stay on top of the single and album charts. While her natural physical beauty certainly didn't hurt her career, it was probably her honest feel for soul and the blues, as well as jazz, that had her riding high during a time when so many of her peers were being dropped by the major labels or moving to Europe. Lush Life follows Wilson's winning formula of combining jazz and adult pop, but while individual tracks stand out, a heavy Barbra Streisand influence hurts the disc overall. Like Babs, Wilson possesses pipes powerful enough to blow the roof off of a barn (as she does on "Free Again" and "Over the Weekend"), but her real gifts come out on the lightly swinging "River Shallow" and a slowly building ballad reading of Bobby Hebb's "Sunny" that puts a fresh spin on the over-exposed 1960s staple. Expert West Coast jazz musicians such as Shelly Manne and Ted Nash contribute to the session, but Billy May and Oliver Nelson's charts are often too string-heavy. While the album is cohesive, it's a shame that you can't tell the difference between the work of two normally singular and unique arrangers. Still, both men did build solid foundations for Nancy Wilson, and Billy May uses the title track as a means to tip his hat to Billy Strayhorn, the song's composer, with a smart mix of big band swagger, intimate small-group jazz, and moody orchestral flourishes straight out of an old film noir. While Lush Life is a pleasing effort that will be enjoyed by Nancy Wilson fans, Welcome to My Love, her 1968 collaboration with Oliver Nelson alone, keeps the strings while wisely ditching the Streisand feel. by Nick Dedina  
Tracklist :
1    Free Again 3:44
Arranged By, Conductor – Billy May
Written-By – Armand Canfora, Joss Baselli, Robert Colby
2    You've Changed 2:47
Arranged By, Conductor – Billy May
Written-By – Bill Carey, Carl Fischer
3    Only The Young 2:24
Arranged By, Conductor – Sid Feller
Written-By – Marvin Fisher, Richard Ahlert
4    Lush Life 2:47
Arranged By, Conductor – Billy May
Written-By – Billy Strayhorn
5    Do You Know Why 2:38
Arranged By, Conductor – Oliver Nelson
Written-By – Jimmy Van Heusen, Johnny Burke
6    Midnight Sun 3:47
Arranged By, Conductor – Oliver Nelson
Written-By – Johnny Mercer, Lionel Hampton, Sonny Burke
7    When The World Was Young (Ah, The Apple Tree) 3:13
Arranged By, Conductor – Oliver Nelson
Written-By – Angele Vannier, Johnny Mercer, M. Phillipe Gerard
8    River Shallow 3:26
Arranged By, Conductor – Oliver Nelson
Written-By – Andre Previn, Dory Langdon
9    (I Stayed) Too Long At The Fair 3:24
Arranged By, Conductor – Billy May
Written-By – Billy Barnes
10    Sunny 3:56
Arranged By, Conductor – Billy May
Written-By – Bobby Hebb
11    The Right To Love (Reflections) 3:24
Arranged By, Conductor – Billy May
Written-By – Gene Lees, Lalo Schifrin
12    Over The Weekend 3:02
Arranged By, Conductor – Billy May
Written-By – John Benson Brooks, Joseph McCarthy, Jr.
Credits :
Alto Flute, Clarinet, Oboe – Bob Hardaway (faixas: 9 to 12)
Bass – Buster Williams
Cello – Armand Kaproff (faixas: 5 to 12), Frederick Seykora, Justin Di Tullio, Nathan Gershman (faixas: 1 to 4), Raphael Kramer
Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Flute – Justin Gordon (faixas: 1 to 4)
Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Flute, English Horn – Bob Hardaway (faixas: 1 to 4)
Clarinet, Flute – Abe Most (faixas: 1 to 4), Ted Nash (2) (faixas: 1 to 4)
Drums – Shelly Manne
Flute, Alto Flute, Bass Flute – Abe Most (faixas: 5 to 8), Harry Klee (faixas: 5 to 8), Justin Gordon (faixas: 5 to 8)
Flute, Bass Clarinet, English Horn, Alto Flute – Bob Hardaway (faixas: 5 to 8)
Flute, Clarinet, Bass Flute – Abe Most (faixas: 9 to 12), Harry Klee (faixas: 9 to 12), Justin Gordon (faixas: 9 to 12)
French Horn – Henry Sigismonti (faixas: 1 to 4, 9 to 12), James McGee (faixas: 5 to 8), Richard Mackey (faixas: 1 to 4), Vincent DeRosa, William Alfred Hinshaw (faixas: 5 to 12)
Guitar – John Collins
Harp – Ann Stockton (faixas: 1 to 4), Catherine Gotthoffer (faixas: 5 to 12)
Percussion – Larry Bunker
Piano – Donn Trenner
Timpani – Larry Bunker (faixas: 1 to 4, 9 to 12)
Trombone – Robert Knight (faixas: 5 to 8), Phillip Teele (faixas: 1 to 4, 9 to 12)
Violin – Alfred Lustgarten (faixas: 5 to 12), Anatol Kaminsky (faixas: 1 to 4), Betty Marks (faixas: 5 to 8), Carl LaMagna (faixas: 5 to 12), Dan Luse (faixas: 1 to 4), Edward Bergman, Emil Briano (faixas: 5 to 8), Erno Neufeld, Gerald Vinci, Harry Bluestone (faixas: 1 to 4, 8 to 12), Jacques Gasselin, James Getzoff (faixas: 1 to 4), John De Voogot (faixas: 5 to 12), Louis Kaufman (faixas: 1 to 4), Marshall Sosson (faixas: 1 to 4, 8 to 12), Mischa Russell, Nathan Kaproff (faixas: 5 to 12), Victor Arno