Just perfect (song and album)

johnart said:

Just perfect (song and album)

This woman could sang, you hear me.

Johnart, you just gave me one more giant reason to like you

I couldn't find the song I wanted to post in youtube. But the first time she was brought to my attention was through a compilation of late 40s R&B hits by different artists from the Black & White labe/Capitol.

She sang I Sold My Heart To The Junkman. Mawkish lyrics thats typical of post-WWII pop tunes, but the way she sang it was just outta this world

johnart said:

Just perfect (song and album)

I had this on my 60's songs list, and removed it, while tweaking my list a couple of days ago.

artist and song

Harlepolis said:

Johnart, you just gave me one more giant reason to like you

I couldn't find the song I wanted to post in youtube. But the first time she was brought to my attention was through a compilation of late 40s R&B hits by different artists from the Black & White labe/Capitol.

She sang I Sold My Heart To The Junkman. Mawkish lyrics thats typical of post-WWII pop tunes, but the way she sang it was just outta this world

My favorite all-time is probably Sarah Vaughan, but Etta Jones is creeping up there for me.

Not just her voice but the way in which she uses it.

I'd love for these Beyonce bitches (many of which I do like) to go take like 5 years off and learn how to be a VOCALIST.

johnart said:

Harlepolis said:

Johnart, you just gave me one more giant reason to like you

I couldn't find the song I wanted to post in youtube. But the first time she was brought to my attention was through a compilation of late 40s R&B hits by different artists from the Black & White labe/Capitol.

She sang I Sold My Heart To The Junkman. Mawkish lyrics thats typical of post-WWII pop tunes, but the way she sang it was just outta this world

My favorite all-time is probably Sarah Vaughan, but Etta Jones is creeping up there for me.

Not just her voice but the way in which she uses it.

I'd love for these Beyonce bitches (many of which I do like) to go take like 5 years off and learn how to be a VOCALIST.

Amel Larrieux did a good standards album. Not the type of stuff I usually listen to(I'm partial to ladies who sang from the depth of their crotches - yep, Sassy was def from that category), but it was a good album none the less.

she is awesome, a bit underrated if you ask me. kind of like dakota staton. they both don't get spoken about much.

Harlepolis said:

johnart said:

My favorite all-time is probably Sarah Vaughan, but Etta Jones is creeping up there for me.

Not just her voice but the way in which she uses it.

I'd love for these Beyonce bitches (many of which I do like) to go take like 5 years off and learn how to be a VOCALIST.

Amel Larrieux did a good standards album. Not the type of stuff I usually listen to(I'm partial to ladies who sang from the depth of their crotches - yep, Sassy was def from that category), but it was a good album none the less.

AMEL LARRIEUX did a standards album!!!??? WHAT??!! i need to hear this! i love that woman!

ella fitzgerald, for me, is the greatest of all times, in terms of vocalists. but yes, etta jones is absolutely wonderful. there are many wonderful vocalists... joe williams, andy bey, dianne reeves, rachelle ferrell... so many.

MJJstudent said:

she is awesome, a bit underrated if you ask me. kind of like dakota staton. they both don't get spoken about much.

I'd even say way underrated. I kind of stumbled upon her work and I feel like I should have known about her the way you hear names like Ella, Billie, Sarah...she's up there for me.

Now I gotta go check out Dakota's work. I'm ashamed to say I'm not familiar with her.

MJJstudent said:

Harlepolis said:

Amel Larrieux did a good standards album. Not the type of stuff I usually listen to(I'm partial to ladies who sang from the depth of their crotches - yep, Sassy was def from that category), but it was a good album none the less.

AMEL LARRIEUX did a standards album!!!??? WHAT??!! i need to hear this! i love that woman!

[img:$uid]http://www.kalamu.com/bol/wp-content/content/images/amel%20standards%20cover.jpg[/img:$uid]

A very intimate setting, which is great because it suited her voice She did a great rendition of...

Harlepolis said:

MJJstudent said:

AMEL LARRIEUX did a standards album!!!??? WHAT??!! i need to hear this! i love that woman!

[img:$uid]http://www.kalamu.com/bol/wp-content/content/images/amel%20standards%20cover.jpg[/img:$uid]

A very intimate setting, which is great because it suited her voice She did a great rendition of...

WOW! thanks!

Speaking of unsung divas. I've been singing this woman's praise for too long now.....

Versatile is a big understatement to describe her body of work.

[Edited 2/8/11 9:14am]

Harlepolis said:

Speaking of unsung divas. I've been singing this woman's praise for too long now.....

Versatile is a big understatement to describe her body of work.

[Edited 2/8/11 9:14am]

NICE! pearl bailey is another one.

MJJstudent said:

Harlepolis said:

Speaking of unsung divas. I've been singing this woman's praise for too long now.....

Versatile is a big understatement to describe her body of work.

[Edited 2/8/11 9:14am]

NICE! pearl bailey is another one.

Hmmm

I like her BUT she's not the type of singer I'd listen to in just any mood. Pearl Bailey is one of those artists who took the cabaret persona to heart just a tad, between every verse & every line, there's a dialogue. It gets on my nerves after awhile.

House of Flowers is one of my fave broadway albums though

Another beast of a vocalist who for some reason get no love from those so-called jazz writers.

Sorry for hijacking your thread, Johnart

johnart said:

Just perfect (song and album)

A great song, sung brilliantly.

Hesitantly, I also refer everyone to check out....[he squirms uncomfortably]... a really good rendition of "Don't Go To Strangers" by...[gulp]... Amy Winehouse, in duet with Paul Weller on Jools Holland show in the UK a few years back...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuJscWYA-eI

Despite everything surrounding her, this is actually a really great live version, and Weller and Winehouse knock it out of the park together. Weller has always been a great singer, and when she's not acting up or slurring her way through a song, Winehouse really knows how to deliver a great vocal performance.

Cooltipp said:

johnart said:

Just perfect (song and album)

A great song, sung brilliantly.

Hesitantly, I also refer everyone to check out....[he squirms uncomfortably]... a really good rendition of "Don't Go To Strangers" by...[gulp]... Amy Winehouse, in duet with Paul Weller on Jools Holland show in the UK a few years back...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuJscWYA-eI

Despite everything surrounding her, this is actually a really great live version, and Weller and Winehouse knock it out of the park together. Weller has always been a great singer, and when she's not acting up or slurring her way through a song, Winehouse really knows how to deliver a great vocal performance.

I'm definitely a Winehouse fan and while a good performance, that version just doesn't haunt me in the same way as Jones'. It doesn't even feel like the same song for me.

I don't quite feel it as a duet and it's too "cute" for me.

There is an intimacy and slight-melancholy about Etta Jones' version that makes me feel as if I'm listening to her very thoughts.

I know it sounds overboard, but I can turn this song up and get lost in her voice and inflections and be very very touched by it.

[Edited 2/8/11 14:56pm]

Harlepolis said:

Speaking of unsung divas. I've been singing this woman's praise for too long now.....

Versatile is a big understatement to describe her body of work.

[Edited 2/8/11 9:14am]

She's so damn cute to boot.

[Edited 2/8/11 15:02pm]

Harlepolis said:

MJJstudent said:

NICE! pearl bailey is another one.

Hmmm

I like her BUT she's not the type of singer I'd listen to in just any mood. Pearl Bailey is one of those artists who took the cabaret persona to heart just a tad, between every verse & every line, there's a dialogue. It gets on my nerves after awhile.

House of Flowers is one of my fave broadway albums though

hee hee... understood. she definitely sets a mood you need to be in. ella fitzgerald is my favourite vocalist of all times though. her versitility is quite underrated, if you ask me. but etta jones and dakota staton, as i said before, are even more underrated.

Harlepolis said:

Another beast of a vocalist who for some reason get no love from those so-called jazz writers.

Sorry for hijacking your thread, Johnart

she DOESN'T??!! what??!! carmen mcRae is one of the best out there!!! and nancy wilson.

[Edited 2/8/11 23:42pm]

[Edited 2/8/11 23:42pm]

and marlena shaw.

MJJstudent said:

Harlepolis said:

Another beast of a vocalist who for some reason get no love from those so-called jazz writers.

Sorry for hijacking your thread, Johnart

she DOESN'T??!! what??!! carmen mcRae is one of the best out there!!! and nancy wilson.

[Edited 2/8/11 23:42pm]

[Edited 2/8/11 23:42pm]

Nancy Wilson

Harepolis, I missed the hijacking comment before

Hijack away!

While she's not revered for her singing as opposed to her piano skills, I still love the smoky quality of Madame Scott's voice.

Now, this is a totally different story....

Harlepolis said:

While she's not revered for her singing as opposed to her piano skills, I still love the smoky quality of Madame Scott's voice.

Now, this is a totally different story....

If anyone interested, her bio was published 3 years ago, it's one of the better biography's of any musician I've ever read. I had the book for 2 years before I read it completely because it pissed me off.

Hazel Scott: The Pioneering Journey of a Jazz Pianist from Cafe Society to Hollywood to HUAC

http://www.amazon.com/Haz...0472115677

Even so, I had a chance to hear Ms. Scott play on a lark in 1978, I was in NYC visting relatives and my Uncle and I stopped to dine at bar restaurant, 45th and Time Square. She played, Stella by Starlight, Come Sunday, I Remember April, and Come Rain Or Come Shine. Ms. Scott had a helluva touch . . . stroking those piano keys. She had played a song or two when my Uncle realized who was playing; she had arranged "Come Sunday" with a classical tint. When she played the intro my Uncle looked up and said, "The only person who can play like that is Hazel Scott". That's when we stood up and realize it was she playing. Pretty much everyone was ignoring Ms. Scott and her demeanor was one of indifference. After she finished playing "Come Sunday" we clapped, my Uncle got up nodded to her, she nodded back, and smiled slightly smiled. I had plans to go back to see her but I never did.

TD3 said:

Harlepolis said:

While she's not revered for her singing as opposed to her piano skills, I still love the smoky quality of Madame Scott's voice.

Now, this is a totally different story....

If anyone interested, her bio was published 3 years ago, it's one of the better biography's of any musician I've ever read. I had the book for 2 years before I read it completely because it pissed me off.

How come?

I went through a phase of semi-obsession with female black pianists, I was on a mission to find out about their music. Her, Mary Lou Williams, Hadda Brooks, Shirley Horn, Nina Simone, Camille Howard and the most mysterious of 'em all, Margaret Johnson(The pianist behind Billie Holiday's first recording of "The Very Thought of You" and the rest of the songs she recorded in that date).

The reason why she's a mystery is because there was this controversy among Jazz historians about who played in that date, some said it was Count Basie billed under a different name due to contractual issues, others said that it was indeed Ms.Johnson, either way the whole thing sparked my interest

BTW, she(Miss Johnson) is all over this set...

[img:$uid]http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drd400/d401/d401572uqj4.jpg[/img:$uid]

Apparently, she was a blues singer in the 20s but completely shifted her career into piano accompanying in the 30s and she was very much sought after as a session musician.

Buck Clayton, t / Dicky Wells, tb where shown / Lester Young, cl, ts / Margaret "Queenie" Johnson, p / Freddy Green, g / Walter Page, sb / Joe Jones, d / Billie Holiday, v. New York, September 15, 1938.

Harlepolis said:

TD3 said:

If anyone interested, her bio was published 3 years ago, it's one of the better biography's of any musician I've ever read. I had the book for 2 years before I read it completely because it pissed me off.

How come?

I went through a phase of semi-obsession with female black pianists, I was on a mission to find out about their music. Her, Mary Lou Williams, Hadda Brooks, Shirley Horn, Nina Simone, Camille Howard and the most mysterious of 'em all, Margaret Johnson(The pianist behind Billie Holiday's first recording of "The Very Thought of You" and the rest of the songs she recorded in that date).

The reason why she's a mystery is because there was this controversy among Jazz historians about who played in that date, some said it was Count Basie billed under a different name due to contractual issues, others said that it was indeed Ms.Johnson, either way the whole thing sparked my interest

Ms. Scott made Lena Horn look like a Pacfiist. Like Ms. Horn and Ms. Kitt, she paid a very high price for her outspokeness. If was a tuff read to know of the humiliation, the brutal racism, and sexism she endured. I really don't think she would've played jazz professionally if she had the opportunity to be a classical pianist. The marriage to Adam Clayton Powell Jr. was a big mistake and when the US goverment couldn't get to Powell Jr. just yet ( our goverment accused her being a communist because she had been speaking and protesting for Black Civil Rights befor a movement started) they went after her, it was brutal. Ms. Scott made the mistake of thinking Powell's "power" would protect her. She had to leave the country, she had been white-balled, she left on her ass, and she came back the same way. Tragic . . . I'm getting pissed now.

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[Edited 2/12/11 0:50am]