notoriously Vocal
Spain (I Can Recall) / Al Jarreau – This Time ♦ Birdland / Manhattan Transfer – Extensions ♦ Old Black Magic / Bill Henderson – Beautiful Memory ♦ Lonesome Lover / Joe Chambers – Horace To Max ♦ Along Came Betty / Mark Murphy – Jazz Standards ♦ Dancing In The Wings / Melissa Walker – May I Feel ♦ China Doll / Leon Thomas – Blues & Soulful Truth ♦ Take The A Train / Echoes Of An Era ♦ River Man / Andy Bey – Shades Of Bey ♦ Secret Of Life / Rosemary Clooney – 70 ♦ Then I Met You / Kenny Burrell – Blue Muse ♦ Istanbul (Not Constantinople) / Wave Mechanics Union – Second Season: Progressive & Classic Rock As Jazz
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Requisites
Something Cool: June Christy established her reputation fronting the Stan Kenton Orchestra at the same time that Pete Rugolo was composing and arranging. Her voice was ideal for the high-art ambitions of the progressive jazz movement. Her diction was impeccable, her phrasing often inspired, and as this reissue of her classic Something Cool -augmented by another 12 tracks recorded between 1953 and 1955–so ably demonstrates, her technique was extraordinary, allowing her to navigate the most abstract melody with accurate pitch and rhythmic confidence.
Personnel: June Christy – vocals, composer, arranger and bandleader Pete Rugolo and His Orchestra
Record Date: 1953
Songs: Something Cool, It Could Happen To You, Lonely House, This Time The Dreams On Me, The Night We Called It A Day, Midnight Sun, I’ll Take Romance, A Stranger Called The Blues, I Should Care, Softly As In A Morning Sunrise, I’m Thrilled
(Re-mastered CD has the same songs both in Mono and Stereo)
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Requisites
The Complete Vee-Jay Recordings: The reissue of these 1959, 1960 and 1961 dates boasts thirty-nine tracks of some of jazz’s most famous songs by one of the idioms few male jazz singers. Though Henderson never made it big, he emerged onto the scene and recorded these compositions at the young age of 29 to 31. On these sessions he swings lightly while squeezing out honest emotion from his ballads.
Personnel: Bill Henderson – vocals, Ramsey Lewis & Tommy Flanagan – piano, Booker Little – trumpet, Yusef Lateef & Eddie Harris – tenor saxophone, MJT +3, Count Basie band & combos, and string orchestras.
Arranged by: Benny Golson, Frank Wess
Record Date: Volume I – October 26, 1959 – November 21, 1960 / Volume II – December 5, 1960 – April 4, 1961
Songs: Disc I – Bye Bye Blackbird, Joey Joey Joey, Free Spirits, Sweet Pumpkin, Love Locked Out, It Never Entered My Mind, My Funny Valentine, Moanin’, Bad Luck, The song Is You, This Little Girl Of Mine, You Make Me Feel So Young, Without You, Sleepy, I Go For That, Sleepy (alt. take) Kiss And Run, A Sleepin’ Bee
Disc II – Never Kiss And Run, A Sleepin’ Bee, Don’t Like Goodbyes, Old Country, Slowly, Opportunity, Never Will I Marry, My How The Time Goes By, Hooray For Love, Skylark, Royal Garden Blues, Twelfth Of Never, Love Is A Bug, Bewitched Bothered And Bewildered, The More I See You, I Can’t Give You Anything But Love, Ac-cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive, Yes Indeed, Please Send Me Someone To Love, Sweet Georgia Brown, Am I Blue
Each LP had two different covers – the one shown here and one shown in the video.
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Requisites
Sarah Vaughan with Clifford Brown: When Two Geniuses Met for One Perfect Album
Sometimes magic happens when the right artists meet at exactly the right moment. Sarah Vaughan with Clifford Brown—originally released simply as Sarah Vaughan in 1954—is one of those rare, lightning-in-a-bottle collaborations that captured two towering talents at their creative peaks.
An Unlikely Pairing That Shouldn’t Have Worked—But Did
On paper, pairing the Grammy Award-winning vocal virtuoso Sarah Vaughan with the brilliant young trumpeter Clifford Brown might have seemed risky. Vaughan’s voice was an instrument unto itself, capable of operatic range, breathtaking improvisation, and emotional depths that could break your heart. Brown, meanwhile, was revolutionizing jazz trumpet with his warm tone, flawless technique, and lyrical approach that suggested both bebop fire and romantic elegance.
Together? Pure alchemy.
A Single Session, An Enduring Legacy
The album was released on the EmArcy label and remains the only collaboration between this extraordinary pair, a tantalizing “what if” for jazz fans who can only imagine what further recordings might have produced. The original release bore only Vaughan’s name, but when reissued, the title was changed to emphasize Brown’s participation, recognizing that this was a true partnership between equals.
Critical Reception and Personal Favorite
The album was well-received upon release, though not without some criticism—as is often the case with ambitious artistic statements that don’t follow predictable formulas. Some critics felt the arrangements were too lush, others wanted more interaction between the two principals. But Vaughan herself had no doubts: this remained her personal favorite among all her recordings through 1980, a remarkable statement from an artist with a discography spanning decades and hundreds of albums.
She knew what she’d captured in that studio—something special, something that transcended the usual vocalist-with-accompaniment formula.
Recognition and Immortality
History has vindicated Vaughan’s judgment. In 1999, the album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, joining the pantheon of recordings deemed “qualitatively or historically significant” and worthy of permanent preservation.
A Bittersweet Postscript
There’s an inevitable sadness knowing this was the only time these two artists recorded together. Just two years after this session, Clifford Brown died in a car accident at age 25, robbing jazz of one of its most promising voices. This album stands as both a celebration of what Brown achieved in his brief life and a poignant reminder of what was lost.
Why It Still Matters
Sarah Vaughan with Clifford Brown isn’t just a historical artifact or a completist’s curiosity—it’s a masterclass in musical communication. Listen to how Brown’s trumpet seems to converse with Vaughan’s voice, how they finish each other’s musical thoughts, how the space between their phrases breathes with meaning.
This is what happens when two artists at the top of their game truly listen to each other and respond with honesty, generosity, and brilliance.
For anyone who loves vocal jazz, trumpet playing, or simply the sound of two masters making something beautiful together, this album remains essential—a 1954 gift that keeps giving, seven decades later.
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Review: Kathleen Bertrand | Katharsis
In many ways the task of the music critic is anything but easy. We tediously wade through the multitudes that dub themselves singers, seeking storytellers who transport us to new and exciting destinations. To truly hear music, we must divorce prejudices and likes, and in doing so, permit the customary to wane to make way for nuance and subtlety.
As our collective musical tastes evolve, we constantly anticipate the arrival of fresh and exciting sounds, and to that extent our wait has run its term. Kathleen Bertrand’s latest offering Katharsis lingers between meaningfulness and elation as thoughts about you wrap around her finger, relate grandma’s hands that are stronger than pride and ushers a younger generation of lyricists and composers into the pantheon of the great American songbook.
We are blessed to be in the presence of a vocalist who understands interpretation, not only of classic songs and original compositions but is also equally adept at hearing orchestration and arrangement. Without too much fanfare or divulging too many delights, suffice it to say you will hear the Kathleen Bertrand you have come to know and love in a new light.
As you listen to Katharsis, you will uncover its many moods that tempt you to dance, move and realize your own indulgences. Katharsis will not be limited to wonderful, extraordinary, marvelous or exceptional, nor will these words designate it so simply because they are written. These are merely cautionary pronouncements describing the pleasure I received as I drove down the highway on a warm summer night. You, like I, will be challenged to find your own words for this unexpectedly delightful exposé and return hungry for more. Why, you may ask… because it’s what he likes!
carl anthony | notorious jazz | may 24, 2011
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