Customer Reviews

King Pleasure Sings/Annie Ross sings

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The only word I can think of to describe this CD is classic. Having listened to King Pleasure back in the day it was a pleasant surprise to see this CD with most of his major recordings on Reprise. The first time I heard "Don't get scared " as an impressionable teenagager the song struck a chord with me. The simple lyrics and message as delivered by King Pleasure were perfect, I was an instant fan. This CD is timeless and stands up almost fifty years later as most of these recordings were made in the early 1950's. The scat singing style spawned a lot of imitators but King Pleasure was an original. Although these recordings are different from other recordings on LP they are nonetheless superb, with beautiful engineering that doesn't compromise the integrity of the time period yet has a "clean" sound. My faves are "Jumpin with Symphony Sid," "Don't get scared," "Parker's Mood"," I'm in the mood for love" and the instrumental "Funk Junction." The duet with Blossom Dearie on "Moody's Mood for Love "is excellent although there are better versions around. By comparison his duet with Betty Carter on "Red Top' is memoreable with none finer. The surrounding cast on these recordings is like a who's who of jazz with the likes of such giants as JJ Johnson and Kai Winding on trombones, vocals by Jon Hendricks and Eddie Jefferson, Art Blakey on drums, Paul Chambers on bass including arrangements and direction by Quincy Jones and numerous others. This is swinging music from a different time period that is mellow straight no chaser stuff. You can just imagine a smoky honky tonk with this music filtering through the grey haze of cigarette smoke, times have changed but classics remain. Put this CD on and slip into your own time machine. Although I bought this for the King Pleasure music it was a nice treat to have the included songs(4) of Annie Ross who I was unfamilar with, she can swing and sing. Her style reminds me of Keely Smith, very nice articulation and scat stylings. The entire package is worthwhile for jazz fans of the vocal style known as scat. Buy this CD for something different or if you are an old fan like me to reminesce. Classic stuff from the past for the present.

How to sum up this gem in 1000 words or less? There is no way- this album is just too freaking good. This album, which mixes Jazz riffs with King Pleasure's strange mix of classic and piano-bar singing is a real keeper.

Tge album is a sort of collection of tracks from other King PLeasure recordings, however, from what I have heard the actual song versions sound like different recordings. If you have other King Pleasure CD's I'd grab this one just for the addition of the Annie Ross tracks.

King Pleasure's smokey, poetic vocals weave in and through such classic tracks as "Parker's Been Your Friend" "Red Top" and the awesome "Sometimes I'm Happy". Annie Ross is equally phenomonal with her Jazz/Scat tunes, and makes the perfect dessert for King's hearty feast of Jazzy goodness. The only thing this album is lacking is a duet by these two vocal titans.

I lack the knowlege of Jazz to make any adequate comparisons to other artists- all I know is that since being turned on to this album by my college roommate in 1986, it's been in my collection and played nearly every month from then until now. GO GET THIS CD!

I was hanging out in a Village coffee house one afternoon in 1962 when someone played the juke box and the voices of King Pleasure and Annie Ross stopped me in my tracks. Wow. I bought the album and decades later the CD. I consider the music (Pleasure's "Red Top" and Ross' "Twisted") classic. Ross' vocalizations (of almost 50 years ago) are still very fresh and innovative...even for today. Get this album!

How to sum up this gem in 1000 words or less? There is no way- this album is just too freaking good. This album, which mixes Jazz riffs with King Pleasure's strange mix of classic and piano-bar singing is a real keeper.

The album is a sort of collection of tracks from other King Pleasure recordings, however, from what I have heard from his other CD's these sound like slightly different versions. Interesting. If you have other King Pleasure CD's I'd grab this one just for the addition of the Annie Ross tracks.

King Pleasure's smokey, poetic vocals weave in and through such classic tracks as "Parker's Been Your Friend" "Red Top" and the awesome "Sometimes I'm Happy". Annie Ross is equally phenomonal with her Jazz/Scat tunes, and makes the perfect dessert for King's hearty feast of Jazzy goodness. The only thing this album is lacking is a duet by these two vocal titans.

I lack the knowlege of Jazz to make any adequate comparisons to other artists- all I know is that since being turned on to this album by my college roommate in 1986, it's been in my collection and played nearly every month from then until now. GO GET THIS CD!

This is one of the people who helped invent scat. Thus you should listen. Harry Connick Jr. tried to immitate him in his early years as did Dr. John. Annie has a silky smooth voice too. Enjoy!

Ah, yes. The infamous Dr. Reid Badger introduced me to this disc ( via Ross' "Twisted") in one of his dynamic/manic classes and I was instantly hooked. This disc serves as an excellent introduction to the vocalese style and brave souls should quickly proceed into Lambert, Hendricks and Ross (all appear in one form or another here) territory as soon as possible.

King Pleasure was an innovator. This isn't the best collection of his sides, but it's a good starter. The Annie Ross stuff is nice to hear as well.