Customer Reviews

Ultimate Sarah Vaughan

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A phenomenal female vocalist, and arguably one of the finest female voices to date...to rank alongside "Aretha Franklin, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald", as a truly unique and distinguished vocalist. With this 1997 Verve label collection, it not some much collates all her work, but concentrates on the hit singles that steered her 40 or so year career.....so you be right in to expect her biggest (and most covered hit) "Summertime" that still now sounds like a glorious, glorious song. But for those just wanting the hits....."The Sweetest Sounds/ Misty / Little Girl Blue / My Man's Gone Now" have (rightly) made their way onto the disc..but it the sentimentally melodic piano breakdown of "Broken Hearted Melody" that requires multiple listens, if ever there was a track to describe blissed out Hot summer afternoons, this must surely be it, and taken as a compilation disk, this must rank amongst the Jazz music's finest.

Although Sarah was still active and important in the late '50's when I began to pay attention to good music, I never got much beyond her pop hit "Broken Hearted Melody" which came out in 1958. As I discovered girl jazz singers, I fell for Ella, and Julie London, Peggy Lee and Anita O'Day and for awhile, Carmen McRae. Recently this compilation came into my collection, and taught me how versatile Sarah really was. This has 16 songs recorded between '54 and '67 in a variety of settings. Next to "Broken Hearted Melody" I like "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" best, but really, it's all good. I'm not enchanted, but I enjoy her. If you already like Sarah but don't own most of these songs by her, you won't be disappointed with this purchase.

I know that musical tastes are subjective and based on personal taste..... but to compare one of the greatest voices of all time .. the inimitable Sarah Vaughan to a new comer like Diane Krall (A fan from Switzerland) borders on being sacrilegious.

Sarah has always been mentioned with her contemporaries, Ella Fitzgerald, Carmen McRae and Dinah Washington, and even then no comparison was made because she was one of a kind.

Had to get that off my chest.

The title is a misnomer, how could 16 songs be called "Ultimate" when it comes to Sarah Vaughan? It would take A LOT more songs to really show off all sides of this truly talented artist. The songs do show how amazing and equally comfortable she was in a variety of settings---jazz trio, concert stage, orchestra, strings, or just a piano. My personal favorite is to hear her in an intimate setting with minimal accompaniment, and this CD has 'em as well. It gives the casual Sassy fan an idea how she sounded under various settings and make the choice what the preference is. What's amazing is how little Sarah's voice changed or deteriorated over the years---what a remarkable instrument she had, the likes we might never see again. This CD would give you an idea of her range and versatility, but the songs taken from her concerts---"I'll Be Seeing You" "Detour Ahead" and jazzy sides "Shulie A Bop" where she gets to improvise---are personal favorites.

Very hard to dislike the best of SASSY ,because this greatest hits album is simply without a false note.Perfectly displays SARAH's incredible wide range, from the sensual SMOKE GETS IN YOUR EYES that make THE PLATTERS sound like boring old fashion crooners to SUMMERTIME and THE SWEETEST SOUNDS who were never better. Listen closely when SARAH VAUGHAN is singing, and you'll see the little girl in her playing with her toys.It is not surprizing that she was also a great live singer like all truely greats artists.There is no doubt that SASSY will never be forgotten by her fans.We'll perpetuate her memory.

This CD is worth getting for the simple reason of her interpretation of songs : The Sweetest Sounds (the same song that Brandy sang in the Whitney Houston produced special, Cinderella) where Sassy sings beautifully; the World War II song, I'll Be Seeing You, where she sings so sweetly that you would think she would never see her lover ever again or a timeless interpretation of Smoke Gets In Your Eyes. So many jewels in this CD of beautiful songs interpreted by the most musically talented songstress of our time - Sarah Vaughan.

This is by far the best Sarah Vaughan album I've heard yet (and I've heard a few). Buy this album TODAY! My favorite is the classic Misty featuring Quincy Jones and his orchestra. Trust me you will fall in love with this album. This is the one the only-SASSY!

Singer Dee Dee Bridgewater did a commendable job of selecting Sarah Vaughan at her artistic finest on this grab-bag disc. Sarah loops over and under a clever take on "The Sweetest Sounds" and works magic with Quincy Jones' orchestra on the lush old-Hollywood arrangements of "Misty" and Mancini's "Dreamsville," a semi-standard that originated on the "Peter Gunn" soundtrack. "Broken-hearted Melody" is pure '50s pop, but fun nonetheless. Divine voice and impeccable arrangement meet in Jobim's gorgeous "Corcovado," but Sarah's best performances here are on the 'Porgy and Bess' tracks. Ber bluesy "Summertime" is lyrical and magnificent, soaring higher and higher with each verse; and Sarah's voice takes on operatic proportions on the sweeping, dramatic "My Man's Gone Now." Stunning. Overall, an excellent across-the-board intro to one of jazz's finest vocalists.

The quality of sound is good enough despite some background noise is audible. If you are afraid about that I recommend you the 'You're mine you' CD instead of this one.

This is a very good selection of Sarah for people who does not know this incredible jazz singer yet.
Sarah Vaughan is a reference, if you are interested in vocal jazz and you are looking for a start point, then I recommend you this CD and the 'Lady in Satin' from Billie Holiday. These two ladies are the greatest singers I've ever heard and their quality voice and interpretation goes over time. You cannot be disappointed, and if you do, then there are only two possibilities: You need to change your stereo or you must go to the doctor.

If Billie shows the real meaning of interpretation, Sarah does the same in virtuosity, her voice has not equal and the quantity of registers he reach never ends, it is absolutely cathartic. There is a time before and after you listen these ladies, you not only be surprised but you will also be witched by them, in such a way that you will never listen again other singer in the same way.

They are far ... far away from any other singer you could ever heard, believe it.

Although giving too much emphasis on various big-bands combinations (she made such beautiful music with smaller groups), this CD gives a good intro to the magic of Sarah Vaughan, the first singer that crops to my mind when I think which modern singer could compare to Billie Holiday...

Although Sarah didn't stick just to jazz in her performances, even when there is more than a hint of hit parade ambitions in her recordings, she still had more rhythm, melody and substance (in her sound) than all the Diana Kralls and Norah Joness of the world can muster when put together to sing in the jazziest manner available to them.

My personal favorites on this CD are, of course, "Shulie-a-bop" (with John Malachi, Roy...Haynes and "Crazy Joe Benjamin") and brilliant "No Count Blues", where she and Basie's New Testament big band bring out the best of each other... At this song even us amateurs can hear why the players considered her one of the boys (musically and in other respects).

Additionally, since Dee Dee Bridgewater is such a fine and versatile singer, it is interesting to see what songs she picked from Vaughan's repertoire (could she stray much outside the Verve-PolyGram owned records?)