SARAH VAUGHAN – 1949-1950 | The Classics Chronological Series – 1166 (2001) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

This fourth installment in the Classics Sarah Vaughan chronology demonstrates her extraordinary versatility during the first stages of a fully blossoming artistic maturity. Four exquisite sides with the Joe Lipman Orchestra are followed by an MGM session in duet with crooner Billy Eckstine, backed by Lipman's Orchestra and strings. Given the fact that it was Eckstine who gave Vaughan her first break in showbiz, the pairing has a special charm. Aside from this MGM deviation, Vaughan was a Columbia recording artist during this time period. By far the best jazz on this disc was recorded on May 18 and 19, 1950, with accompaniment by pianist Jimmy Jones and his band. The front line of Miles Davis, Benny Golson, Budd Johnson, and Tony Scott, backed by the rhythm section of Jones, bassist Billy Taylor, J.C. Heard, and either Mundell Lowe or Freddie Green, matches the vocalist's every nuance to perfection. The combination of Miles Davis and Sarah Vaughan is a marvel not to be missed. There is some confusion between discographies regarding various brassy big band sides, as some tracks are credited both to the Norman Leyden Orchestra (with Bud Powell at the piano!) and to Mitch Miller & His Orchestra. Miller, of course, was no stranger to modern jazz, having also participated in some of Charlie Parker's With Strings sessions. Whoever actually headed the band, Sarah Vaughan's "Perdido" is delightful and invigorating. This interesting disc closes with a wild surprise in the form of "De Gas Pipe She's Leakin' Joe," a campy calypso spoof on the topic of suicide, so atypical of Sarah Vaughan that it could easily fool almost anyone in a blindfold test. The word again is "versatility." arwulf arwulf  Tracklist :
1     You're Mine, You 3'11
Johnny Green / Edward Heyman
2     I'm Crazy to Love You 3'00
Kay Werner / Sue Werner    
3     Summertime 3'17
George Gershwin / Ira Gershwin / DuBose Heyward    
4     The Nearness of You 3'20
Hoagy Carmichael / Ned Washington    
5     Ev'ry Day (I Fall in Love) 2'58
Sammy Fain / Irving Kahal    
6     I Love You 2'40
Cole Porter    
7     Dedicated to You 2'44
Sammy Cahn / Saul Chaplin / Hy Zaret    
8     You're All I Need 3'04
Walter Jurmann / Gus Kahn / Bronislaw Kaper    
9     Our Very Own 3'16
Jack Elliott / Victor Young    
10     Don't Be Afraid 2'56
Joe Newman / George Roberts    
11     Ain't Misbehavin' 3'00
Harry Brooks / Andy Razaf / Fats Waller    
12     Goodnight My Love 3'28
Mack Gordon / Harry Revel    
13     Can't Get Out of This Mood 2'50
Frank Loesser / Jimmy McHugh    
14     It Might as Well Be Spring 3'13
Oscar Hammerstein II / Richard Rodgers    
15     Mean to Me 2'54
Fred E. Ahlert / Roy Turk    
16     Come Rain or Come Shine 3'25
Harold Arlen / Johnny Mercer    
17     Nice Work If You Can Get It 2'36
George Gershwin / Ira Gershwin
18     East of the Sun (And West of the Moon) 3'07
Brooks Bowman    
19     I Love the Guy 2'34
Cy Coben    
20     Thinking of You 3'04
Bert Kalmar / Harry Ruby    
21     Perdido 2'31
Ervin Drake / Hans Lengsfelder / Juan Tizol
22     Whippa-Whippa-Woo 3'10
C. Miller / Paul Francis Webster    
23     I'll Know 3'18
Frank Loesser    
24     De Gas Pipe She's Leakin' Joe 2'41
Caraballo / Germano
Credits :
Alto Saxophone – Julian "Cannonball" Adderley, Sam Marowitz
Arranged By, Conductor – Ernie Wilkins
Bass – Joe Benjamin
Drums – Roy Haynes
Flute, Tenor Saxophone – Jerome Richardson
Guitar – Turk Van Lake
Orchestra – The Ernie Wilkins Orchestra
Piano – Jimmy Jones
Remastered By – Dennis Drake
Trombone – J.J. Johnson, Kai Winding
Trumpet – Bernie Glow, Ernie Royal
Vocals – Sarah Vaughan