CD1
The Swingin’s Mutual
1. On Green Dolphin Street
2. Oh Look At Me Now
3. The Nearness Of You
4. You Are There
5. Born To Be Blue
6. Blue Lou
7. Lullaby Of Birdland
8. All Night Long
9. Inspiration
10. The Things We Did Last Summer
11. Don’t Call Me
12. Let’s Live Again
George Shearing – Piano
Nancy Wilson – Vocals (tracks 1, 3, 5, 8, 10, 12)
Warren Chaisson- Vibes
Dick Garcia - Guitar
Ralph Pena – Bass
Vernel Fournier – Drums
Armando Peraza – Percussion
In the Night
13. From Rags To Richards
14. I’m Left With The Blues In My Heart
15. Pawn Ticket
16. In The Night
17. Easy
18. I Hear Music
19. Senor Blues
20. Confessin’ The Blues
21. Later
22. The Thrill Is Gone
23. The Late, Late Show
24. I’d Love To Make Love To You
George Shearing – Piano
Dakota Staton – Vocals (tracks 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12)
Emil Richards – Vibes
Toots Thielemans – Guitar
Al McKibbon- Bass
Percy Brice – Drums
Cool Canaries
25. I Wished On The Moon
26. Love (Your Spell Is Everywhere)
27. Midnight Belongs To You
28. It’s Easy To Remember
29. The Love Nest
30. Moonlight In Vermont
George Shearing – Piano
Teddi King – Vocals (tracks 25-30)
Joe Roland – Vibes
Dick Garcia – Guitar
Al McKibbon – Bass
Marquis Foster – Drums (tracks 25-28)
Bill Clark – Drums (tracks 29, 30)
CD2
Beauty and the Beat
1. Do I Love You?
2. I Lost My Sugar In Salt Lake City
3. If Dreams Come True
4. All Too Soon
5. Mambo In Miami
6. Isn’t It Romantic?
7. Blue Prelude
8. You Came A Long Way From St. Louis
9. Always True To You In My Fashion
10. There’ll Be Another Spring
11. Get Out Of Town
12. Satin Doll
George Shearing – Piano
Peggy Lee – Vocals
Ray Alexander – Vibes
Toots Thielemans – Guitar
Carl Pruitt – Bass
Ray Mosca – Drums
Armando Peraza – Percussion (tracks 5, 9)
Nat King Cole Sings – George Shearing Plays
13. September Song
14. Pick Yourself Up
15. I Got It Bad And That Ain’t Good
16. Let There Be Love
17. Azure-Te
18. Lost April
19. A Beautiful Friendship
20. Fly Me To The Moon
21. Serenata
22. I’m Lost
23. There’s A Lull In My Life
24. Don’t Go
George Shearing – Piano
Nat King Cole – Vocals
Emil Richards – Vibes
Al Hendrickson – Guitar
Al McKibbon – Bass
Shelly Manne – Drums
String Choir conducted by Ralph Carmichael
Paul Horn, Wilbur Schwartz, Justin Gordon – Flute, piccolo (track 21)
Lloyd Ulyate – Trombone (track 21)
Carlos Vidal – Congas (track 21)
Nick Martinez, Luis Miranda – Percussion (track 21)
Cool Canaries
25. Taking A Chance On Love
26. You’re Driving Me Crazy
27. Lullaby Of Birdland
28. Slowly But Surely
George Shearing – Piano
Billy Eckstine – Vocals (tracks 25, 26)
The Ray Charles Singers – Vocals (tracks 27, 28)
Joe Roland – Vibes (tracks 25, 26)
George Devias – Vibes (tracks 27, 28)
Dick Evans – Guitar (tracks 25, 26)
Toots Thielemans – Guitar (tracks 27, 28)
Al McKibbon – Bass
Denzil Best – Drums (tracks 25, 26)
Bill Clark – Drums (tracks 27, 28)
Despite its title, this album actually offers us the best part of
five LPs, including ten of the twelve tracks from the early 1950s
compilation Cool Canaries. The other four LPs (dating from
1957 to 1961) contain recordings by the George Shearing Quintet with
contributions from four different vocalists.
To start with, The Swingin’s Mutual from 1961 has six tracks on which singer Nancy Wilson joins the Shearing group, while the
other six tracks are by the quintet alone. Even Nancy would admit that she’s not really a jazz singer: she’s more of a cabaret artist.
Nonetheless she manages quite well here, singing in tune albeit occasionally vocalising rather too stridently for the delicate backing. She
sounded more at home on her album with another jazzman: Cannonball Adderley. Here she sometimes sounds as hard-edged as Earth Kitt! The
Shearing quintet is its usual sophisticated self.
In the Night
follows the procedure of the Nancy Wilson LP by having a vocalist singing six of the songs on an album where George Shearing’s Quintet
takes the other six. If Nancy Wilson has the fault of being a bit too strident, Dakota Staton can be even more forceful, approaching
raucousness. On this 1957 album, Dakota shows her credentials as a jazz singer by improvising with ease. However, she really comes on a bit
strong for the finesse of her accompanists. This is not always the case: the title-track is generally subdued, as befits a tender ballad.
The first CD may be slightly disappointing but the second presents us with two singers who perfectly match the Shearing sound. Beauty and the Beat teams the quintet with Peggy Lee, who knows precisely how to match her vocals to the cushion of
Shearing’s well-balanced combo. This album has been through some vicissitudes, as it was originally released under the pretence that it was
recorded at a disc jockeys’ convention in Miami. The sleeve-notes here continue this deception, although the album was actually a studio
recording with audience applause overdubbed. The original recording is heard here, without misleading overdubbing, so maybe the compilers
of this album should have changed the sleeve-notes! At any rate, this is a marvellous album, with the Shearing Quintet accompanying Peggy
Lee with complete understanding. Tracks 13 and 14 were not on the original LP.
I have already reviewed the fourth album - with Nat King Cole singing with the quintet and strings. Like the Peggy Lee album, it is a classic, with Let There Be Love a stand-out track among a dozen beauties. I was puzzled by the statement that
the extra woodwind players were on a track called The Game Of Love, which is not on this album. Then I discovered that the 2000 reissue of the
album included three extra tracks which the Avid company omits.
Cool Canaries
is a mixed bag of recordings by vocalists with the Shearing Quintet. Teddi King sang with the Shearing quintet for two years and she clearly fitted in well
with their style. Her unhurried vocals, using plenty of vibrato, are very attractive. I remember hearing the Billy Eckstine tracks (recorded in 1951) on a
yellow-label MGM 78rpm disc. His deep velvety voice makes an ideal match with the quintet. The Ray Charles Singers appear on the last two tracks of the
second CD, performing two songs by Shearing in a hip vocal style.
This is a generous collection which gives us a great deal of fine music. The singers’ quality makes me prefer the second CD to the first. The remastered
sound is good.
Tony Augarde
www.augardebooks.co.u
k
CD Reviews
Avid AMSC 1117
