Once Upon a Summertime

Blossom Dearie | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 17, 1992)
• Original Release Date: 1958
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Polygram Records
• ASIN: B0000046OL
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #35,231 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A charmer, November 5, 2000

By 

N. Dorward "obsessive reviewer" (Toronto, ON Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Once Upon a Summertime (Audio CD)

This album is the highpoint of Dearie's Verve recordings. The formula is not that different from her other discs--a small-group setting, a selection of a few well-known standards & a sprinkling of rarities & novelty numbers, & the inevitable French tune (the title-tune, though it's sung in English). Yet the disc has a real gravitas & emotional punch that can take the listener by surprise. "Tea for Two" is taken at a very gentle pace, the lighthearted lyrics cracking open to reveal a haunting wistfulness. A similar transformation is worked on "Manhattan". Midtempo tunes like "The Surrey with the Fringe on Top" & "If I Were a Bell" are brightly & charmingly done; the swinger "Moonlight Saving Time" features a very good piano solo from Dearie.

As with her friend Dave Frishberg, Dearie shows that you needn't worry too much about vocal technique when you have some innate musicality, a brain & a sense of humour. A quiet classic of 1950s vocal jazz.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This Blossom will never fade, November 29, 2002

By 

KSG "ksgnyc" (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Once Upon a Summertime (Audio CD)

Wonderful, witty and warm. Blossom Dearie is a national treasure and her late 50's - early 60's recordings for Verve make life worth living. There is no one like her in the world. Thank you for The Surrey With the Fringe On Top.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Deceptively Simple, Sweet and Swinging..., August 30, 2004

By 

Eddie Landsberg "My 10th year as a reviewer !... (Tokyo, Japan) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Once Upon a Summertime (Audio CD)

The comparisons to Dave Frishberg make good sense to me... and she's definitely one hip gal (Blossom Dearie was the lady answering King Pleasure in his famous recording of Moody's Mood for Love.) - - What's most amazing is that while lacking both the "operetics" of other aspiring Jazz vocalists and the improvisational venturousness of the bebop singers, she has something "else" which is hard to pinpoint... Cuteness ? Perhaps some, but then again she also has a way of phrasing, telling stories through the music and holding the listeners' attention... as a result, whereas the "cuteness" and "novelty" might wear off with other singers taking this approach, Blossom Dearie's style proves itself itself to have an eternally hip deepness that's easy to miss with just a quick listen and comparison.. in time one realizes beyond "cuteness" better words are "honesty" and "insight" to describe her playing... incidentally her piano playing ain't so bad either... (Check out her swinging solo on If I Were A Bell For Example....) the accompanyment of Eddie Thigpen and Ray Brown definitely doesn't hurt.... Ray Brown's bass solo over Eddie Thigpen's masterful brush drumming on Teach Me Tonight is worth the purchase of this CD 10 times over ! ! ! ...not to mention Mundell Lowe's presence and the ridiculously cute and silly Doop-Doo-De-Doop...