After my post two days ago on Dutch singer Rita Reys and her obscure 1956 recording with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, JazzWax reader Arto Harutyun Pestemalcigil kindly sent along additional images from the session:
Rita Reys with drummer Art Blakey
Reys with Donald Byrd (left) and Hank Mobley
Reys with pianist Horace Silver and saxophonist Hank Mobley
Reys in conversation with pianist Horace Silver, as bassist Doug Watkins relaxes
JazzWax clip: Here's Reys in 1965 with Oliver Nelson swinging It Could Happen to You in Hilversum, the Netherlands.
The band? Benny Bailey (tp), Art Farmer (flhrn), Ake Persson (tb), Lee Konitz (as), Herman Schoonderwalt (ts), Sahib Shihab (bar), Pim Jacobs (p), Wim Overgaauw (g), Ruud Jacobs (b), and Stu Martin (d)—with Oliver Nelson conducting...
Is it just me, or did she kick her stylistic affectations up a notch over those 9 years? I think she sounds better in '56.
Posted by: Ian Carey | October 08, 2010 at 03:41 PM
Agreed, Ian. The best way to be hip is not to be "hip". Hopefully this was a passing phase in her career. As I mentioned previously, she did a Jobim album in 1981 that is absent any such excesses.
Posted by: Bill Kirchner | October 09, 2010 at 10:57 AM
Steve Allen has no accessible legacy any longer, so what is possibly remembered about him was his crazy laugh, THE BENNY GOODMAN STORY, and that ball and chain that seemed to be ever present when he was somewhere.
Johnny Carson gets a lot of lip service, but he has a less accessible legacy than even Steve Allen.
Jack Parr = "who?"
Posted by: John P. Cooper | October 11, 2010 at 05:41 AM
Check her out on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rita-Reys/114169925274026.
Ms. Reys celebrates her 70 years on stage jubilee in 2011.
Posted by: Jurjen Donkers | January 09, 2011 at 12:00 PM