Jazz Singer

Jazz Singer

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Customer Reviews

Nice compilation of Clooney's 50's jazz recordings

Reviewed by L. W. Schroeder, 2010-01-13


Quite a few of Clooney's early jazz recordings in one place. This CD provides convincing evidence that Clooney sung jazz in addition to other types of music, if there was any doubt. The songs are from at least seven other previous "albums". Vintage Clooney!! It is very enjoyable to hear the Clooney style in a jazz setting. This CD also shows that early on her talents were way beyond the pop tunes she sang in the fifties.

One can compare her renditions of "Sophisticated Lady" in 1956 and 1977 (Concord Jazz Heritage Series, 1998) and see the influence of additional life experience. I feel her rendition of "I'll be Around" in 1951 is pretty amazing for someone in their twenties.

Clooney at her best

Reviewed by M. Barker, 2007-08-27

Wasn't Rosemary Clooney wonderful? This is a good collection --- absent Come Over to My House, which is okay. This collection reminds me why R. Clooney was the female Frank Sinatra.

Like rare wine Rosemary got better as the years passed.

Reviewed by Joseph Williams, 2006-11-10

I was a fan of Rosemary Clooney when she first appeared on the scene. White Christmas, with Bing Crosby, was Rosemary's break thru performance. After a difficult time in life Rosemary re-appeared and began singing in Jazz clubs around the country. Her voice and interpretation of the songs on this CD are superb. This CD is a treasure.

Can't be "best of" when it's all good.

Reviewed by Samuel Chell, 2006-01-08

This is another one of those "Best of--" collections representing an artist's work from several different recording sessions. You can't blame Columbia/Sony for trying to capitalize on a revival of interest in what was at the time a comparatively neglected dimension of Rosemary Clooney's talent. Not until she later became identified as a "jazz singer" during her extensive tenure with Concord records did many listeners discover perhaps her very best, albeit "non-commercial," early recordings for Columbia--sessions with the likes of Nelson Riddle, Benny Goodman and, above all, Duke Ellington. This last session--"Blue Rose"--is such quintessential Ellington as well as Clooney that nothing less than the original recording will do.

Duke's biggest "hit"--"Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue" from the Newport 1956 album --was in many respects no more representative of his artistry than "Come On A My House" was of Rosemary's. As a result, "Blue Rose" was a rare opportunity for the public to catch a glimpse of both performers in full bloom. In the wordless vocals of the title song and the vocal harmonies of "Mood Indigo" as well as the rich woodwind choirs complementing the voice on "Sophisticated Lady" and "I've Got It Bad," Clooney and Ellington achieve a balance that practically erases any distinction between solo and accompaniment let alone the two "star" performers.

Which is not to say that each doesn't shine in their own light--but it's more a reflected luminescence picked up from an inspiring companionable source. Even Johnny Hodges' jaw-dropping, virtuoso playing on Strayhorn's "Passion Flower" (easily worth the price of the album all by itself) becomes an organic element in a programmatic whole. As for Rosemary, she's never sounded better--nor, for that matter, has Ellington.

The previous reviewers are on target concerning the quality of the music on the present anthology--which is all the more reason to skip this sampler and go to the original sources.

Delightful

Reviewed by Tricia L. Reed, 2005-11-21

A wonderful collection of songs, preformed perfectly by the best singer the world has had. If you are a fan of Rosie you will not be disappointed and if you aren't a fan yet you probably will become one!