JazzWax

Kenny, Bryan and Peggy

In The Wall Street Journal this week, I interviewed Kenny Loggins for my "House Call" column in the Mansion section (here). Kenny talked about growing up outside of Los Angeles in the 1950s and the night he was on a triple date and why he asked the guy to pull over so he could get out and leave the group. I also asked how he felt about being the king of yacht rock. He said in all fairness, he shared that title with Michael McDonald. True enough, but when I asked him if being known as a yacht rock star was a bad thing, he said not at all, that king was a pretty good title. Kenny's new memoir, Still Alright, can be found here.

Here's Kenny and Michael McDonald in 2017 performing Heart to Heart, This Is It and What a Fool Believes...

Also in the WSJ this week, my Opinion section Cultural Commentary on the importance of Roxy Music's first album released 50 years ago and how Bryan Ferry set in motion new wave's emergence five years later. Here's Bryan Ferry and Roxy Music's Re-Make/Re-Model in 1972, five years before Talking Heads and the Cars (click on the link in the black box that says, "Watch on YouTube")...

Roxy Music reissued on vinyl. Following my piece on Roxy Music in the WSJ, I heard from Rey Roldan, president of ReyBee Publicity, who tells me that Virgin/UMe this year is releasing all eight of the band's albums on half-speed vinyl pressed in Germany. If you love Roxy Music, the textured sound is fantastic. The first two LPs, Roxy Music and For Your Pleasure, both with Brian Eno, were issued on April 1; Country Life and Stranded came out on May 13; Manifesto and Siren were released June 10. And Avalon and Flesh + Blood are due July 1. You can order the half-speed vinyl releases here.

More Roxy. Alexandra Baker, publicist for Roxy Music, tells me that Bryan Ferry and the band will be on an international tour in September and October. For tour dates and venues, go here.

Clarinet escape. Bill Kirchner sent along this terrific clip of clarinetists Barney Bigard, Bob Wlber, Kenny Davern, Eddie Daniels and Tony Coe backed by Dick Hyman on piano, Jack Sewing on bass and J.C. Heard on drums performing Bye Bye Blues, Moonglow and Take the "A" Train. They performed at the Grande Parade du Jazz in Nice, France, on July 15, 1977. Go here...

Dexter Gordon. Following my post on SteepleChase's recent release of Dexter Gordon's Soul Sister, Kim Paris of the FM Radio Archive sent along the following note:

Hi Marc, thanks for your column on Dexter Gordon. Thanks to Mark Rabin, we have a broadcast recording of Dexter at the Keystone Korner on New Year's Eve in 1980, with many special guests. The Dexter Gordon Quartet was joined by Woody Shaw, Sonny Stitt and Ernie Andrews.

This New Year's Eve set was broadcast on NPR's Jazz Alive series, and was recorded from WBEZ in Chicago. Dex performed several of his classic songs, including "'Round Midnight," "Tanya," "Fried Bananas" and "Body and Soul." Unfortunately, the first portion of the broadcast is not included, so if any of your listeners have the full recording, please email us at [email protected].

To listen, go here.

More Dexter Gordon. Speaking of Mark Rabin, last week he sent along a link to a YouTube posting of a Pioneer Laserdisc of Dexter Gordon with his 'Round Midnight Band at Montreux in 1987. The band featured Bobby Hutcherson (vib), Cedar Walton (p), Pierre Michelot (b) and Billy Higgins (d). Go here...

Lost Kenton concert. Here's the Stan Kenton Orchestra at the Coconut Grove in Los Angeles in March 1978. Go here...

Jerry Lewis and Andy Williams. Here they are in 1965 on the Andy Williams Show in an off-beat pairing that reveals Williams's sense of humor and hoofing ability...

Horace Silver. Last week, following my post on Horace Silver, I asked Bill Kirchner about transcribing Silver's Cookin' at the Continental for an arrangement of the song by Michael Abene:

Hi Marc. In 1993, Mike Abene came to me with an interesting project. He was producing an album with the GRP All-Star Big Band called "All Blues" and wanted me to transcribe Horace Silver’s piano solo from "Cookin' at the Continental." He was arranging it as part of a big band chart. I had just gotten out of the hospital, so I had a student of mine, Andrew Bemkey, help me. We transcribed the solo together.

Here’s Horace’s original record...

And here’s Mike’s Abene's chart for the band...

Note how Mike arranged Horace’s solo as part of the orchestration.

For a fascinating comparison, listen to Horace’s solo, then listen to Chick Corea’s solo on “Matrix” from the 1968 "Now He Sings, Now He Sobs." Horace’s influence on Chick was unmistakable. Go here...

Dizzy Gillespie. Last week, Nelson Porto in Brazil sent along the following. Go here....

Harold Danko—Rite Notes (SteepleChase). Released in March and recorded in 2021, Harold's latest album is a fascinating solo work akin to his earlier release, Spring Garden, which re-interpreted Igor Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring (1913). On Rite Notes, Harold turns Stravinsky inside out on Premonitions and Reflections, Future Case, Address Unknown, No Escape, Rival Revelries, Nirigama, Rising Aspirations, Mystic Dancers and Sprung. Harold digs deep to interpret a composer who wrote revolutionary and exciting music more than 100 years ago, adding to the ferocity and tumult with a fresh percussive approach. Go here...

Here's Sprung...

Chicago style. Michael Steinman of the Jazz Lives blog recently posted at YouTube a clip of a tribute concert to cornetist Wild Bill Davison. Performing at the 1990 Bern Jazz Festival in Switzerland, the band featured Warren Vaché on cornet, Eddie Hubble on trombone, Bob Wilber on soprano and alto saxophones, Kenny Davern on clarinet, Ralph Sutton on piano, Dave Green on bass and Jake Hanna on drums. They played Nobody's Sweetheart, Tin Roof Blues, Blues My Naughty Sweetie Gives to Me, Viper's Drag, Beale Street Blues, Black and Blue and As Long as I Live. Go here...

And finally, here's Peggy Lee on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1962 singing I Believe in You...

Backgrounder: 'Bossa'

Continuing with my Backgrounder series, today I decided to share with you a 1966 Brazilian album entitled Bossa, by the Conjunto Copacabana Bossa, or the Copacabana Bossa Set.

Produced and arranged by gutiarist Paulo Tito (above), the group included members of the Banzo Trio—Nelson Racy (p), Ditinho (b) and Howard França (d) as well as an unknown guitarist (Tito?), tenor saxophonist, flutist, trumpeter and vocalist. What I love about this album is its hotel feel. One senses that if you could travel back in time to Rio in 1965 and you walked into a hotel along the four-mile stretch of Copacabana Beach, this is exactly the kind of music you'd hear in the lounge. It's like a tall glass of a lemon-flavored drink over ice with fizz.

Here are the album's songs, along with their composers in parentheses...

• Arrastão (Edu Lobo/Vinicius de Moraes)
• Chuva (Durval Ferreira/Pedro Camargo)
• Balanço Zona Sul (Tito Madi)
• Meditação (Tom Jobim/Newton Mendonça)
• Garota Moderna (Jair Amorim/Evaldo Gouveia),
• Primavera (Carlos Lyra/Vinicius de Moraes)
• Samba de Verão (Marcos Valle/Paulo Sérgio Valle)
• Canto do Quilombo (Luiz Carlos Sá)
• Preciso Aprender A Ser Só (Marcos Valle/Paulo Sérgio Valle)
• Gente (Marcos Valle/Paulo Sérgio Valle)
• Reza (Edu Lobo/Ruy Guerra)
• Giramundo (Luiz Carlos Sá)

Here's Bossa without ads so you can listen while reading, working or just sipping something cool with your feet up...

Other ad-free Backgrounders in my series:

• Zoot Sims Plays Bossa Nova, go here.
• Lee Morgan: Lee-Way, go here.
• Bossa Nova for Swinging Lovers, go here.
• Leon Spencer: Louisiana Slim, go here.
• Bossa Nova Modern Quartet: Bossa Nova Jazz Samba, go here.
• Bill Evans & Luiz Eça: Piano Four Hands, go here.
• Ray Brown Trio: Don't Get Sassy, go here.
• Os Tatuis: Os Tatuis, go here.
• Waltel Branco: Mancini Tambem É Samba, go here.
• Jack Wilson Plays Brazilian Mancini, go here.

Free View: Tony Bennett's Crew

Singer Tony Bennett may be retired from the stage, but his backup group is still swinging. On Friday night, they'll be playing together in Brighton, Mass., near Boston, and you can stream the event for free from the comfort of your home, from anywhere in the world.

Or, if you're in the Boston area and want to go and see the group live, I'll tell you how. But first, the quartet features pianist Tim Ray, guitarist Gray Sargent, bassist Marshall Wood and singer Donna Byrne. [Photo above, clockwise from top right, Tim, Donna, Marshall and Gray]

Here's Tim, Tony's final musical director and pianist...

Here are Tony's long-term guitarist and bassist Gray and Marshall (with pianist Dave McKenna and drummer Ray Mosca)...

And here's Donna, who often opened for Tony...

All four artists will be together tomorrow night, Friday, June 17, as part of Boston's WGBH-TV's presentation of JazzNOW: The Legacy of Tony Bennett. After the performance, Eric Jackson, host of GBH’s "Eric in the Evening," will host a Q&A with the quartet.

The event can be enjoyed in-person or online. Here are your options:

Purchase the $50 in-studio ticket and arrive for the 7:15-9:30 p.m. (ET) event at the GBH studios in Brighton, Mass. The ticket includes a pre-concert reception with drinks, snacks and the live performance in GBH Fraser Performance Studio.

Or join the virtual event online, from 8 to 9:30 p.m. (ET). The streaming event is free, but registration is required. To register in advance, go here. Be sure to tell them in the form you fill out how you heard about the gig.

For more information, go here.

Finally, to get you in the mood, here's Tony in March 1965 on the Ed Sullivan Show singing Who Can I Turn To...

Horace Silver: 'Blowin' the Blues Away'

I'm hard-pressed to think of a post-war jazz pianist-composer whose playing and compositions were as electrifying and addictive as Horace Silver's. Thelonious Monk and Bill Evans are certainly in the pantheon of exceptional player-songwriters. But Silver was really in a class by himself.

In addition to being a gorgeous balladeer and a lyrical hard-bop pioneer, he was a penetrating keyboardist who favored intriguing sweet-and-sour chord voicings, and many of his catchy songs are now standards. Most of all, Silver was first to develop what we now call funk: percussive, rhythmic music with jaunty, jagged lines that make songs sound like a strut. [Photo above of Horace Silver by Francis Wolff (c) Mosaic Images]

Silver recorded more than 35 studio albums, and there really isn't a dud among them. It's just that some are better than others. One of his finest is Blowin' the Blues Away, a hard bop masterpiece of seven originals. How Did It Happen, also impossibly perfect with sublime harmonies, was written by Don Newey and added to the album's reissue in the digital age. The quintet played on all tracks except The St. Vitus Dance and Melancholy Mood, which were handled only by the rhythm section.

Recorded in August and September 1959, the album featured Blue Mitchell (tp), Junior Cook (ts), Silver (p), Eugene Taylor (b) and Louis Hayes (d). The cover art was by Paula Donohue. The tracks are Blowin' the Blues Away, The St. Vitus Dance, Break City, Peace, Sister Sadie, The Baghdad Blues, Melancholy Mood and How Did It Happen. Peace and Sister Sadie became standards, but How Did It Happen also is a stunner, as is the album's title track.

And that's why Silver is so dear to jazz fans. Nearly all of his songs are engaging and manage to put you in their individual moods. The grace, heart and elegance of his approach is touching, and his tight arrangements are unmatched—an earthy combination of crisp joy and lingering melancholy. If you're unfamiliar with Silver, start with this album and then move on to Horace-Scope and Song for My Father. From there, just keep adding to your collection.

Horace Silver died in 2014.

JazzWax tracks: You'll find Horace Silver's Blowin' the Blues Away (Blue Note) here.

JazzWax clips: Here's How Did It Happen...

Here's The St. Vitus Dance...

Bonus: Here's the Horace Silver Trio in October 1952 playing Silver's Ecaroh (Horace spelled backward), an early example of funk. It features Silver (p), Gene Ramey (b) and Art Blakey (d). Remarkably, this one features three different songs in one...

Grant Green: 'Live at the Lighthouse'

Guitarist Grant Green had two significant jazz careers. The first was as a Blue Note artist who recorded 29 straight-ahead jazz albums as a leader for the label between 1960 and 1972, plus a couple of dozen recording dates as a sideman. The other career was as a funky soul-jazz player who recorded important riff-driven albums for other labels starting in 1965 (His Majesty King Funk for Verve). The second career was, unfortunately, muted by the rapid rise of the jazz fusion movement, which had wider crossover appeal, especially with college-bound white rock fans. [Photo above of Grant Green in 1972, courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art]

One album that bridged these two careers was his last for Blue Note—Live at the Lighthouse—a masterpiece on multiple levels. Recorded at the Lighthouse club in Hermosa Beach, Ca., in April 1972, the album featured Green (g), Claude Bartee (ss,ts), Gary Coleman (vib), Shelton Laster (org), Wilton Felder (el. b), Greg Williams (d) and Bobbye Porter Hall (perc). On the album, Green's band is on fire. It's impossible to overstate how together this funky soul-jazz septet was. It had a grabby groove and blistering soloists who could jam for long periods of time. Meaning they could keep audiences hypnotized with a handful of songs.

The album's songs were brilliantly chosen. The tracks are Neal Creque's Windjammer, the Stylistics' Betcha By Golly Wow, Donald Byrd's Fancy Free, Shelton Laster's Flood in Franklin Park, Mose Davis's Jan Jan and Johnny Bristol and Marilyn McLeod's Walk in the Night. Produced by George Butler, the record originally was a double album with tracks running upward of 15 minutes (Flood in Franklin Park). 

The soul-jazz captured by this album existed for a very brief period of time, running roughly from 1969 to 1974. At the time, soul powerhouse artists such as Marvin Gaye, Isaac Hayes, Curtis Mayfield, Stevie Wonder and many others released exciting new albums on which they had greater control. Artists were finally able to abandon short-form, hook-heavy formulas used on AM radio and often replaced the gimmicks with socially conscious themes. With the 12-inch LP, they had room to experiment and expand, and the results were played extensively on emerging FM radio stations. Soul's popularity, especially with urban listeners, quickly rolled over to jazz musicians, since many of them were brought in as soul-album sidemen. 

Prestige was the leader in the soul-jazz movement, but Blue Note wasn't far behind. Green understood how jazz could use hit soul recordings as an alternative to the American songbook, gaining currency with a wider, young-adult audience by creating instrumental interpretations. As you can hear on Live at the Lighthouse, Green had a wild thing going on without veering into avant-garde, fusion or free-form jazz. Instead, Green's approach burned and smoldered with Sly Stone funk and, in some respects, the material holds up better today than some of the major me-too fusion albums of yore. [Photo above of the Lighthouse in the early 1970s]

Green left Blue Note after his Lighthouse album. My guess is he wanted more artistic say and identified with the hipper soul movement than the jazz-rock scene, which had become loaded down with icy music-school sophistication and spiritual mysticism. I've always enjoyed Green's handful of 1970s albums, though others who favor his Blue Note period don't see or feel the value. There was a new energy and emotion in soul that suited him. After all, everything he wanted to say in the jazz vernacular had been said on the Blue Note sessions, many of which the label decided not to release until much later. Soul and funk were languages Grant Green understood from the start.

After spending a good chunk of 1978 in the hospital, Green went out on the road. In New York, following a gig at George Benson's Breezin' Lounge, he died of a heart attack in his car. Green was just 43.

JazzWax tracks: You'll find Grant Green: Live at the Lighthouse (Blue Note) here.

JazzWax clips: Here's the full album...

Dexter Gordon: 'Soul Sister'

When Dexter Gordon moved to Europe alone in 1962, he hoped his then wife, Jodi, and his daughters would join him. But once there, he created a new life in Europe and the couple divorced mid-decade, writes Maxine Gordon, the tenor saxophonist's eventual road manager and wife, in her moving and smartly researched memoir, Sophisticated Giant. [Photo of Dexter Gordon above by Francis Wolff (c) Mosaic Images]

Gordon had a lot to forget, but those hard memories had nothing to do with his family and everything to do with California. The state had hounded him for years on drug charges, imprisoning him on and off in the 1950s, all but pulling him off a fast-developing jazz scene and nearly destroying his career as a musician. It wasn't until the spring of 1961, after years of detention, that Gordon was finally permitted to travel outside of Los Angeles.

Atop Gordon's to-do list was leaving the U.S. as soon as possible, but first he had to earn savings to cover relocation expenses. He recorded a series of exceptional Blue Note recordings in New York from May 1961 to August 1962. In between that period, in February 1962, he satisfied the requirements of his California parole and probation, and he was free. At age 39, Gordon looked forward to putting his career back on track—abroad.

In September 1962, he left for Europe, and two months later he was recorded at the Metropole Jazz Centre in Oslo, Norway. In February 1963, he appeared in concert in Copenhagen, Denmark, and was recorded by Danish radio. These two dates were released earlier this year in April on Soul Sister by SteepleChase Records. In Oslo, Gordon was backed by Einar Iversen (p), Erik Amundsen (b) and Jon Christensen (d). In Copenhagen, he performed with Bent Axen (p), Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen (b) and William Schioppfe (d).

Three songs were recorded in Oslo: Second Balcony Jump and Gordon's Ernie's Tune and Stanley the Steamer. In Copenhagen, another three were recorded: Three O'clock in the Morning, Gordon's Soul Sister and A Night in Tunisia.

As these recordings show, Gordon's creative mind and his playing were in peak form. Given the huge gaps in Gordon's 1950s discography, it's astonishing he emerged from the personal trauma of sustained addiction, arrests and incarceration with his creativity intact and playing ability razor sharp. Once abroad, Gordon was liberated to do as he pleased, go where he wished and play what he wanted, with attentive and adoring audiences. On the newly issued Soul Sister, Gordon is upbeat and his playing is fluid and rich in ideas. And on Night in Tunisia, he broke new ground for himself with a freer bop solo.

As for Gordon's then wife, Jodi, and his daughters, Robin and Deidre, they surely felt confused and abandoned by his departure. Sadly, great artists don't have a history of being emotionally neat or caring in the traditional family sense. And Gordon's years abroad were a jumble of relationships and children until 1974, when he married his second wife, Fenja, who organized his life.

JazzWax tracks: You'll find Dexter Gordon's Soul Sister (SteepleChase) here.

JazzWax clip: Here's A Night in Tunisia...

Harlan, Don and Nat

In The Wall Street Journal this week, I interviewed suspense novelist Harlan Coben for my "House Call" column in the Mansion section (go here). Harlan grew up in a New Jersey suburb where two rumors dominated—that a house with two stone lion heads out front belonged to a mobster and that a nuclear missile base was located behind a school. Both turned out to be true. [Photo above of Harlan Coben, courtesy of Harlan Coben]

Here's the trailer to an excellent Netflix adaptation of Harlan's novel The Stranger...

Johnny Carson's Tonight Show band in New York in 1964 was led by Skitch Henderson. In the following video, the reed section, under the direction of alto saxophonist Hymie Shertzer, who wrote and arranged this baby—Reserved for Five—featured, from left, Don Ashworth (bs), Sid Cooper (as), Hymie Shertzer (as), Al Klink (ts) and Tommy Newsom (ts). The song sounds like it's based on the chord changes to Honeysuckle Rose. A few notes: Remarkable how styles and aging have changed. Can you guess their ages? Ashworth was 33, Cooper was 46, Shertzer was 55, Klink was 49 and Newsom was 35. Also, Bill Kirchner pointed out that Ashworth is playing a low-A baritone saxophone. And lastly, Clark Terry and Bernie Glow are in the trumpet section. Bobby Rosengarden is the drummer. Go here...

Singer Diana Panton posted a wonderful 2019 clip on her Facebook page last week. This is why I love fashion. The clip features the Gold Caviar Crew at the Colors of Africa Fashion show in Vienna, Austria. The nuanced dance steps and fabrics are fabulous. The song is Khona, by the South African duo Mafikizolo, released on their album Reunited (2013). Go here...

Sonny Stitt in Rio. Nelson Porto in Brazil sent along an audio clip of saxophonist Sonny Stitt playing Corcovado with the Zimbo Trio in 1979. Here's the album. For the clip, go here...

Singer Louise Alexandra in the Netherlands sent along a link to All the Difference, a precious song of optimism and love she wrote and sang earlier this month. Go here...

Maynard Ferguson discography? It's just a click away. Bill Kirchner sent along a link to Michael Minn's site. Go here.

Beach Boy. Don't forget, PBS's American Masters series will air Brian Wilson: Long Promised Road, a terrific documentary directed by Brent Wilson (no relation) on Tuesday, June 14 at 9 p.m. (ET). Check your local PBS station listings. You can view the trailer and other video clips here.

Bix Beiderbecke. On my top-5 list of jazz documentaries is director Brigitte Berman's Bix: Ain't None of Them Play Like Him Yet (1981), on the life and music of the cornetist. Readers may recall my October 2021 posts on the documentary (here) and my interview with Brigitte that followed (here). Well, I have great news. The DVD is available now, newly restored, here.

Nat King Cole. Last week, pianist Eric Comstock sent along a link to a terrific clip. Let Eric tell you why he loves it:

Hi Marc. Three weeks after Nat King Cole died on February 15, 1965, Perry Como and Lena Horne sang a tribute to him on Perry's TV show without ever mentioning his name. It’s stunning. If you ever doubted "Ramblin’ Rose" could bring tears…

Go here...

Don Patterson radio. Don't miss this one. On Sunday, from 2 to 7 p.m. (ET), Sid Gribetz of WKCR-FM in New York will host a five-hour radio broadcast celebrating the career of organist Don Patterson as part of the station's "Jazz Profiles" series. To listen from anywhere in the world, go here.

And finally, here's my favorite Nat King Cole song, featuring Cole in London on a BBC TV special in 1963, with the orchestra using Ralph Carmichael's studio-recording arrangement...

Backgrounder: Jack Wilson Plays Brazilian Mancini

Jack Wilson was a jazz pianist with solid commercial instincts. His fast arranging pen brought him to the attention of Buddy Collette, a West Coast multi-instrumentalist and studio musician. In the early 1960s, Buddy suggested that Wilson move out to Los Angeles, where studio orchestrating and recording work was plentiful. Wilson arrived and went directly to work, ghost arranging, recording under his own name and recording with major jazz musicians. By the mid-1980s, he relocated to New York where he performed at clubs with Barry Harris and in duos with bassists Boots Maleson and Peter Washington.

Back in 1965, Wilson recorded a bossa nova tribute album to Henry Mancini for Vault Records, an L.A. label founded by Jack Lewerke and Ralph Keffel. The album, Jack Wilson Plays Brazilian Mancini, featured Wilson on piano with Roy Ayers on vibes, Antonio Carlos Jobim on guitar (listed as "Tony Brazil"), Sebastiao Neto on bass and Chico Batera on drums and percussion.

Here's the entire album, ad-free, courtesy of a link sent by West Coast arranger Roy Phillippe...

To buy or stream the album as a download, go here.

Other ad-free Backgrounders in this series:

• Zoot Sims Plays Bossa Nova, go here.
• Lee Morgan: Lee-Way, go here.
• Bossa Nova for Swinging Lovers, go here.
• Leon Spencer: Louisiana Slim, go here.
• Bossa Nova Modern Quartet: Bossa Nova Jazz Samba, go here.
• Bill Evans & Luiz Eça: Piano Four Hands, go here.
• Ray Brown Trio: Don't Get Sassy, go here.
• Os Tatuis: Os Tatuis, go here.
• Waltel Branco: Mancini Tambem É Samba, go here.

Video: Carmen McRae With Clarke/Boland

Another day of Carmen McRae at JazzWax, which means you're in for another treat. Today, Bill Kirchner sent along a link to a 1970 taped performance for German TV by McRae with the Kenny Clarke-Francy Boland Big Band. It seems the taping was done without an audience. My guess is audience applause was overdubbed for the actual broadcast.

Here's the 40-minute performance (dig the arrangement for I Wish I Were in Love Again)...

Bonus: Here's Carmen McRae's November Girl album with the Kenny Clarke-Francy Boland Big Band...

For a discography of the Kenny Clarke-Francy Boland Big Band, check out Doug Payne's site here.

Carmen McRae: 'After Glow'

Carmen McRae's 1950s Decca recordings remain among her most formative and exquisite. Recorded between 1954 and 1958, the label's nine McRae albums and a dozen or so singles uniformly captured her voice in solid form, while it was still bouncing around in the midrange before dropping lower in the 1960s. After Glow, backed mostly by the Ray Bryant Trio, is one of my favorites.

Captured in Decca's studio on March 6 and 7 in 1957, much of the album features McRae accompanied by Bryant (p) Ike Isaacs (b) and Specs Wright (d). On April 18, the album's final four songs were recorded with Ronnell Bright on piano instead of Bryant.

Most of the songs recorded were ballads, maximizing McRae's after-hours, candlelight appeal. But there also were a clutch of midtempo tunes. The song list includes I Can't Escape From You, Guess Who I Saw Today, My Funny Valentine, It's the Little Things That Mean So Much, I'm Through With Love, Nice Work If You Can Get It, East of the Sun (and West of the Moon), Exactly Like You, All My Life, Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, Dream of Life and Perdido.

The tracks credited to Ronnell are All My Life, Nice Work If You Can Get It, Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea and I'm Through With Love. McRae's voice throughout is viola warm, with the singer tossing in her trademark unexpected jazz notes to mix things up.

I wish someone would remaster her Decca albums and release a box entitled The Complete Carmen McRae on Decca. Her albums for the label are By Special Request (1956), Torchy! (1956), Blue Moon (1956), Boy Meets Girl, with Sammy Davis Jr. (1957), After Glow (1957), Mad About the Man (1958), Carmen for Cool Ones (1958), Birds of a Feather (1958) and Porgy and Bess, with Sammy Davis Jr. (1959). And don't forget the singles and unreleased tracks.

McRae's voice exists in its own artistic space, nestled in the twilight between pop and jazz. While she never became as big a recording artist as Ella, Sarah, Peggy or Dinah, Carmen was in a league of her own singing with a tonal purity and special level of jazz vocal intelligence.

JazzWax tracks: Until a label decides to produce my wish box above, you'll find Carmen McRae's After Glow (Decca) here.

JazzWax clips: Here's East of the Sun (dig Bryant's piano intro!)...

Here's All My Life...

Here's one of the very finest vocal versions of My Funny Valentine...

And here's Perdido...