1. Penthouse Serenade
2. You’re Blasé
3. Everything I Have is Yours
4. Body and Soul
5. I Cover the Waterfront
6. Tenderly
7. Don’t Blame Me
8. Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child
9. I Can’t Get Started
10. Trouble Is A Man
11. Love Me or Leave Me
12. The Man I Love
13. I Get a Kick out of You
14. The One I Love Belongs to Somebody Else
15. It’s You or No One
16. What a Difference a Day Made
17. Once in a While
18. Nature Boy
19. I’m Glad There is You
20. I Feel So Smoochie
Sarah Vaughan: vocals on all tracks
Track 1: Buck Clayton (trumpet); Scoville
Brown (clarinet); Don Byas (tenor sax); George
James (baritone sax); Teddy Wilson (piano);
Remo Palmieri (guitar); Billy Taylor Sr (bass);
J.C. Heard (drums)
Track 2: Neal Hefti, Al Porcino, Sonny Rich,
George Schwartz (trumpets); Mickey Datz, Gus
Dixon, Johnny Mandel (trombones); George Auld
(tenor/soprano/alto sax); Al Cohn, Irv Roth
(tenor sax); Serge Chaloff (baritone sax);
Harvey Leonard (piano); Joe Pilicane (bass);
Art Mardigan (drums)
Tracks 3 and 4: George Treadwell (trumpet);
Al Gibson (clarinet and alto sax); George
‘Big Nick’ Nicholas (tenor sax); Eddie de
Verteuil (baritone and alto sax); Jimmy Jones
(piano); Jimmy Smith (guitar); Al McKibbon
(bass); William Barker (drums)
Tracks 5-7: George Treadwell, Ermit V. Perry,
Roger Jones, Hal Mitchell, Jesse Drakes (trumpets);
Ed Burke, Dickie Harris, Donald Cole (trombones);
Rupert Cole, Scoville Brown (alto sax); Budd
Johnson, Lowell ‘Count’ Hastings (tenor sax);
Eddie de Verteuil (baritone sax); Jimmy Jones
(piano); Al McKibbon (bass); J.C. Heard (drums)
Tracks 8-10: Unknown strings, flugelhorn,
woodwinds, harp, celeste
Tracks 11-14 and 20: Sam Musiker (clarinet);
unknown flugelhorn; Nicky Tagg (piano); Tony
Mottola, Al Casey (guitars); Mack Shopnick
(bass); Cozy Cole (drums); unknown harp, string
Track 15: Unknown strings, woodwinds, flute,
harp, piano, bass, drums
Tracks 16 and 17: Jimmy Jones (piano); John
Collins (guitar); Al McKibbon (bass); Kenny
Clarke (drums)
Tracks 18 and 19: The Earl Rodgers Choir
Few jazz singers begin their career in such
spectacular style. By the age of nineteen,
Sarah Vaughan was performing with the Earl
Hines orchestra, singing and playing second
piano alongside the likes of Dizzy Gillespie.
In the following year, she took up her role
in Billy Eckstine’s big band. And in 1945,
she spent a few months with the John Kirby
Sextet, before finally launching a solo career
that would flourish throughout the next forty
four years. Between 14th June 1946 and 8th
April 1948, Vaughan recorded thirty three
tunes, of which this collection features twenty
of the best.
A cursory glance down the album’s track list
- ‘I Can’t Get Started’, ‘The Man I Love’,
‘I Get a Kick Out of You’... - suggests there’s
going to be little of note here as far as
originality is concerned. But, through her
unique and distinctive voice, Vaughan transforms
the most familiar standard in to a fresh and
startling piece. Making full use of her incredible
range, she jumps between octaves, slurs through
the bass notes, and reinvents those famous
melodies, producing results that brim with
life, genuine warmth and character. Throughout
it all, her control is immense, sailing with
ease through difficult key changes, hitting
the notes bang in the centre in each ambitious
variation.
Singing with various sizes of bands, Vaughan
shows herself a versatile performer - and
in every case, her support is attuned to her
challenging, unpredictable style. Cozy Cole’s
double-time drums on ‘I Get a Kick Out of
You’, for example, perfectly establish the
atmospheric swirl that Vaughan goes on to
embellish. In ‘Everything I Have is Yours’,
likewise, Jimmy Jones doubles on celeste,
helping to create the ethereal mood. And on
‘Love Me or Leave Me’, Sam Musiker’s delightfully
resonant clarinet sets the tone for this strange
mixture of joyful swing and blues. At no point,
though, do the other musicians draw attention
away from the star; the magic that shines
through every note of Vaughan’s incredible
voice is nurtured rather than drowned by the
support of these talented individuals.
Trouble is a Man depicts the beginning
of a lengthy and consistently productive career
that would stretch for many years to come;
in 1949, Vaughan switched to Columbia, bringing
her one step closer to her rise to international
acclaim. But in no way should this collection
be seen as a mere introduction to her work
- or, worse still, as a time capsule of purely
historical interest. Vaughan did not so much
progress throughout her recording career,
as maintain the breathtaking standard demonstrated
in these early works. Few other singers have
a led a life so entirely devoted to their
craft. And few other singers have left the
world with such an incredible gift.
Robert Gibson
CD Reviews
Naxos Jazz Legends, 8.120763
