LINDA LAWSON - Easy to Love (2013) FLAC (tracks), lossless

"Linda Lawson doesn't have a very strong voice, but it is expressive and within its limits and the jazz settings arranged by Marty Paich. Here she delivers a generally satisfying, sometimes beautiful pop-jazz album. The repertory includes "You Don't Know What Love Is," co-authored by Gene DePaul, Cole Porter's "Easy to Love," and Bobby Troup's "Meaning of the Blues." Her intonation is occasionally questionable, particularly on the numbers that would have constituted side one of the original LP, and especially when she reaches for certain high notes, but even at those moments — as on "Easy to Love" — the band carries her, and the arrangement and the overall ensemble work. She'll skate past a number like that and then perform splendidly on "Meaning of the Blues" and "Mood Indigo," where it's impossible to fault anything she does. Jimmy Rowles (piano); Bud Shank (alto); Med Flory (baritone sax); Bill Perkins (tenor sax); Al Porcino, Stu Williamson, and Jack Sheldon (trumpets); Frank Rosolino (trombone); Bill Pitman (guitar); Joe Modragon (bass); and Mel Lewis (drums) make a superb band, although one wishes that Lawson and her producer DeAngelis hadn't followed up the hot, swinging "Like Young" (the best number on the album) with the string-laden "Hi Lili-Hi-Lo," even though she does a beautiful job with the latter number as well. The bluesy "Make the Man Love Me" and the gently swinging, high-flying "Up Pops Love" restore the mood. The original album is rarer than hen's teeth, but Fresh Sound records has re-released Introducing Linda Lawson on vinyl LP and as a CD, with beautiful sound and a careful reproduction of the original LP cover." Bruce Eder
Tracklist :
1. Are You With Me 2'31
DeSabata Robinson     
2. Where Flamingos Fly 3'19
Jimmy Kennedy     
3. But Beautiful 2'44
Johnny Burke / James Van Heusen      
4. Me And My Shadow 2'48
Dave Dreyer / Al Jolson / Billy Rose  
5. You Don't Know What Love Is 3'17
Gene DePaul / Don Raye  
6. Easy To Love 1'53
Cole Porter
7. Meaning Of The Blues 3'17
Bobby Troup     
8. Mood Indigo 2'44
Barney Bigard / Duke Ellington / Irving Mills  
9. Like Young 2'59
Andre Previn / Paul Francis Webster  
10. Hi-Lili-Hi-Ho 2'39
H.Deutsch / B.Kaper
11. Make The Man Love Me 3'00
Dorothy Fields / Arthur Schwartz  
12. Up Pops Love 2'48
R.Faith / C.Kehner     
13. Somehow 2'28
Alan Alch / Elmer Bernstein   
14. More Than Never 2'44
Henry Mancini / Carey  
15. Salty, Salty Is the Sea 2'48
Roberts / Wayne  
16. Never Like This 2'47
Mark W. McIntyre / Robert Wells  
Credits :
Linda Lawson sings in all tracks, accompanied by the orchestras Arranged and Conducted by Marty Paich (#1-12) and Henry Mancini (#13-16).
Some musicians involved were Jack Sheldon, Art Pepper, Bud Shank, Bill Perkins, Ted Nash, Jimmy Rowles, Joe Mondragon, Alvin Stoller & Mel Lewis.
All sessions recorded in Hollywood, between 1957 to 1960