Customer Reviews

Jazz Profile: Sarah Vaughan

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YES! If you are haunted, as I am, by the Sarah Vaughan recording of "Key Largo" in the recent Acura commercial, go no further: I checked it out with Acura, and also with the ad agency in Santa Monica, and confirmed that this is the correct version. All in all, this disk is a whole lot better than many compilations of Sarah Vaughan (particular those which draw heavily from Vaughan's later and more wobbly years). This disk is great value, and an admirable introduction to one of the best female vocalists in jazz history.

With a resurgence in jazz music after the recent success of the Ken Burns "Jazz" series on TV, there's been a rush of Sarah Vaughan reissuings and compilations. This sampler came out two years before the series aired and still stands superior to most of those that have glutted the market the past 6 months since the series ended. Taken from her years at the Roulette label (1960-63) plus some truly rare live performances (one dating from 1947), this is a delight for the Sassy fan.

As a reviewer mentioned about the "Key Largo" single being used in the Acura ad, it is pure aural pleasure hearing her rich, mellow voice caressing the lyrics to this classic. The ad shows an Acura deserted on some tropical island and that's exactly where Vaughan's voice takes you as you listen. Heck, Acura even had the sense to use Sassy's voice in their ad---they've got great taste! There's a bit of almost everything here that puts Sass in a variety of musical settings--piano, jazz trio, full orchestra, and live performance. For me, nothing beats hearing the Divine One sing in a spare minimal setting with just a piano and rhythm section, letting that big voice come thru loud and clear, or soft and gentle when she wants to be.

When she's accompanied by a string section, her voice still breaks thru the clouds, easily sailing thru the high notes in "You're Mine, You" and "Star Eyes", two more great tracks. I doubt any listener will be disappointed in this CD. There's something here for everyone. Shows the Roulette record guys did a good deal of thought putting this collection together. It also shows how missed Sassy still is, but at least we've got plenty of the wonderful music she left behind.

This was not necessarily my first experience with Sarah Vaughn, but the first that made me wonder why I had never heard such clear, fully-orchestrated versions of many of the songs I was already familiar with. The fact is, they're remastered tracks of the originals, done beautifully. Vaughn is in particularly good form in cuts such as "Intermezzo," "You're Mine You," "Once Upon a Summertime," and "Dreamy." If you ever need a strong introduction to--or reminder, for that matter, of this magnificent musician, vocalist, phrasemaker, stylist, SINGER. then go no further: this is it. If you never buy another Sarah Vaughn CD ever again, or have never bought one before, this is the one. It changed the way I hear.