Customer Reviews

I Miss You So / Witchcraft

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Almost all the great jazz singers in the 1950s had parallel pop careers, though that fact is all but forgotten today. At Atlantic, the splendid Chris Connor was turning out an unparalleled series of awesome jazz albums while also recording pop singles with great success. "I Miss You So" is a collection of successful singles, singles which previously went unreleased, and a stray track from her Gershwin album. Arranged mostly by Ray Ellis, it's a pop excursion marked by unusual arrangements and horn and choir voicings, and Chris sailing through every kind of song imaginable. "My Heart Is So Full of You" was the extraordinary flip slip of the hit "I Miss You So" and "Radar Blues" was a great single of the last kind of song you'd think Chris Connor would sing. Fascinating music. "Witchcraft" is an all-out big band album arranged by Richard Wess, an extraordinary orchestrator who found Chris the perfect artist to take wing with. What an album from start to finish, including the incredible "Baltimore Oriole" and "Skyscraper Blues." Chris is just a drop-dead singer on this album by any measure and totally different than on her jazz albums. Now someone needs to issue "Misty," the album of singles and unreleased singles which appeared only in Japan, and to add as bonus tracks all the other Chris Connor singles which never made albums, including her fabulous "That's My Desire." Chris has always been an artist who defies classification or prediction; she never was interested in being a hip kitty and her wide-ranging musical enthusiasms have made her an unusually versatile singer. Just when you think you have her pegged, she surprises you. You will LOVE this C.D.

Chris Connor's I MISS YOU SO, and WITCHCRAFT, both released by Atlantic in the fifties and now re-released on a single disc on the Collectables label, contains 24 original tracks--that's two LPs, folks. Half as many would be worth the price. In spite of the bargain price, this is an excellent recording. Chris Connor couldn't offer anything less.

This collection is a great example of Chris Connor in her prime. Her voice, her phrasing, her styling are just so sweet. Her song choices have always been a little off the beaten path; not those that have been done, and overdone, by lesser talents. Every song she sings belongs to her.

Smooth as silk, she glides through "My Ideal," a wistful "Go `Way From My Window," "I Love You, Yes I Do." and the steamy "Past the Age of Innocence." An alto sax echoes the lonely note on "Time Out For Tears" and "Mixed Emotions." She swings "How Little We Know," stirs the blood with "I'll Never Be Free," and pulls out all the stops on "I Hear the Music."

On her swingy "My Heart Is So Full of You," the orchestral and choral work could have been toned down a bit, and in a few scattered places one wishes they'd back off, but it goes with the times. Some things that were standard, or even experimental, practices in the fifties have been improved or abandoned, thank goodness. Connor was strong enough at a very tender age to sing over the energetic Stan Kenton so she can handle these guys with one hand tied behind her. She doesn't let it distract her from her always-perfect performance. The smoky Connor voice and a wailing alto sax more than compensate. Anyway, with WITCHCRAFT, the big band takes over and things find a better balance. Just relax--it's not that bad--and let Chris Connor waft over your nerves like a cool breeze.

All these songs evoke that old feeling, but the CD version is a refreshing experience after watching in dismay the slow disintegration of those old collections of scratchy LPs, misplaced 45s, and stretched and broken tapes.

Excepting Diana Krall, Steve Tyrell, and a scant handful of others who did their homework--you know who they are--this album should be required study for those of the current crop of songsters who sometimes tire one with their over-enthusiastic styling. An afternoon spent with Chris Connor could show them how a serious musician does it.

In the vanguard of ladies of jazz, arm in arm with June Christy and Ella Fitzgerald and very few others, Chris Connor is still a vital force, and has stepped up to prove she can hold her place in line by continuing to release new albums. Her latest, "Everything I Love," is now available.

this was a surprise, introduced to Miss Connor via A Portrait of Chris my expectations were for something similar, and the second part of this two record set, Witchcraft, fell along those lines. But before that came I Miss You So, which felt more like being put under a spell of witchcraft. The first six songs are so softly smooth they put me in a tearful swoon, too beautiful to leave, a version of forever I would gladly sign up for. Chris picks up the tempo, I wish she hadn't, but there are some nice choices, truly we're in the presence of a remarkable talent. My desert island choice would have to be this lady, though choosing between Portrait and I Miss You SO would be difficult. See other reviews for this CD, erudite and right on the mark, terrific, enjoy

For some reason--she didn't put in enough time with Stan K., she didn't do 40 rehabs, she was too late in the cycle--Chris never seemed to get the attention that Anita and June did. She demonstrates her great voice and jazz sense here, a pure joy. And she can handle any tune.

Chris Connor was/is by far one of the greatest song stylists that ever came from the 1950's. Still active today, this compilation of her two successful albums, "I Miss You so" and "Witchcraft" showcase her great phrasing and sense of time. My only complaint about these recordings is the use of "voices", a popular 50's technique used in recordings of other artists such as Nina Simone (Nina Simone sings Duke Ellington) and Dinah Washington (Unforgettable). Occasionally, this choir of voices ruin an otherwise terrific track, i.e., "Mixed Emotions" from I Miss You So. Others on the cd are great, especially I Love You Yes I Do, Go 'Way From My Window, My Ideal, and I Miss You So. Likewise, the Witchcraft album has mostly standouts, including the title track, I Hear The Music Now, You Don't Know What Love Is, Just In Time, I'll Never Be Free...while I Miss You So is primarily a ballads album, Withcraft is a combination of slow songs and uptempo tunes, a testament to the fact that Connor was capable of swinging like Sinatra and belting like Peggy Lee, one of her contemporaries...Connor will be releasing a new album on 7/29/03 called Everything I Love, her 3rd on Highnote Records..the 1st two, Haunted Heart (2001) and I Walk With Music (2002) are worthwhile listening, proving that even in her 70's, Connor is a force to be reckoned with..

There were a series of female jazz singers who defined the craft in the 40s through early 60s. Anita O'Day, June Christy, Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald come to mind and I love them all, but Chris Connor is my personal favorite. Not as swingy as Sarah or Ella, not as crisp and cool as June Christy but more sensual and sexier (to me anyway).

Really sensual and sexy in fact.

These are two of her best albums on one CD. I long ago wore out the original CDs, it's nice to have them for my iPod.

There is a reason Chris Connor does not figure more prominently in post-WW2 jazz; it's not her orchestra and it's certainly not her voice. It's her choice of material. There is not one memorable, singable track on this album. Do not pay full price for this CD: it's good for background music (cocktail parties, seductions, etc.) but not as something you would hum while making the bed...