Artist: Sarah Vaughan
Album: At Mister Kelly's
Year: 1957
Sarah Vaughan was an African-American vocalist in the vein of Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald. This collection is a live set from one of Ms. Vaughan's shows at the Chicago nightclub Mister Kelly's. Having never heard Sarah before, I found it to be a pretty good introduction to her talents.
Vaughan has a voice that's simultaneously rich and sultry but also quite pretty. I liked songs like opener "September in the Rain" and "Honeysuckle Rose" for their seductive vocals. The instrumentals on this album were pretty good too, a small combo consisting of piano, bass, and drums that served as a nice contrast to the full orchestra Billie Holiday had backing her on Lady in Satin. There are a few points in the album where Vaughan actually screws up, during "Willow Weep for Me" she forgets the words to the final verse, but plays it off well. The other interesting moment comes in "How High the Moon," where it appears she didn't know the lyrics at all and so started scat singing in the mold of Ella Fitzgerald. These amateurish moments give the set a more relaxed feel, but lead me to wonder why on Earth this is one of the 1001 must-hear albums of the modern era. 20 songs, clocking in well over an hour, were also a little much. Still, the vocals here are worth the price of admission.
Rating: Worth a listen
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