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Perhaps the most amazing thing about the singing of Etta James is not her versatility -- she has tackled and excelled in gospel, blues, R&B, soul, rock, jazz and pure pop -- but the way her singing stays unmistakably the same in all genres, always conveying strength, emotional honesty, and a subtly nuanced streak of defiant pride that allows her to make any song, no matter how strongly it might be associated with another artist, completely her own. This collection places her in the realm of jazz, compiling a dozen standards she recorded between 1960 and 1970 for the Argo and Chess imprints. Each of these sides features orchestral string and horn arrangements that give off the illusion of smooth mellowness, but it is only an illusion, because James brings all of her vocal guns to the table, and she is as taut as a garrote wire in her phrasing and every bit as sure of the outcome, approaching jazz with the same deep soul fervor she brings to everything she sings. Her take on Harold Arlen's "Stormy Weather" is a case in point. Lena Horne's signature version of the song is full of a languid and haunting resignation, but James tackles it with the defiance of a person used to removing all obstacles from her path and it becomes a persistent hymn to personal survival. Same song. Same lyrics. Different result. Or take James' rendition of the jazz standard "Misty." She fills it with barely restrained gospel fervor, turning its ethereal center inside out and giving the song a kind of stubborn sturdiness that is startling. Remarkably, she always sounds like herself, even when bathed in a backdrop of lush strings and calculated horns. This set doesn't prove that James is a jazz singer so much as it proves that James can sing jazz if and when she chooses to do so. No surprise there. She is, after all, Etta James. And thank God she is.
© Steve Leggett /TiVo
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Harold Arlen, ComposerLyricist - Ted Koehler, ComposerLyricist - Riley Hampton, Conductor, Recording Arranger, AssociatedPerformer - Etta James, Vocals, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Leonard Chess, Producer - Phil Chess, Producer
℗ 1960 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Riley Hampton, Conductor, Recording Arranger, AssociatedPerformer - Etta James, Vocals, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Floyd Hunt, ComposerLyricist - Leonard Chess, Producer - Phil Chess, Producer
℗ 1961 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Duke Ellington, ComposerLyricist - Bob Russell, ComposerLyricist - Riley Hampton, Conductor, Recording Arranger, AssociatedPerformer - Etta James, MainArtist
℗ 1961 The Verve Music Group, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
Johnny Mercer, ComposerLyricist - Riley Hampton, Recording Arranger, AssociatedPerformer - Etta James, MainArtist
℗ 1961 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Johnny Mercer, ComposerLyricist - Harold Arlen, ComposerLyricist - Riley Hampton, Recording Arranger, AssociatedPerformer - Etta James, Vocals, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Leonard Chess, Producer - Phil Chess, Producer
℗ 1961 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Riley Hampton, Recording Arranger, AssociatedPerformer - Etta James, MainArtist - HENRY NEMO, ComposerLyricist - RALPH BASS, Producer
℗ 1962 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Dorothy Fields, Author - Jimmy McHugh, Composer - Riley Hampton, Recording Arranger, AssociatedPerformer - Etta James, MainArtist - RALPH BASS, Producer
℗ 1962 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Jack Strachey, ComposerLyricist - Harry Link, ComposerLyricist - Holt Marvell, ComposerLyricist - Riley Hampton, Conductor, Recording Arranger, AssociatedPerformer - Etta James, MainArtist - RALPH BASS, Producer
℗ 1962 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Russ Columbo, ComposerLyricist - Leo Robin, ComposerLyricist - Clarence Gaskill, ComposerLyricist - Riley Hampton, Conductor, Recording Arranger, AssociatedPerformer - Etta James, MainArtist - RALPH BASS, Producer
℗ 1962 The Verve Music Group, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
Jimmie Davis, ComposerLyricist - Jimmy Sherman, ComposerLyricist - Etta James, MainArtist - RALPH BASS, Producer - Roger Ramirez, ComposerLyricist
℗ 1995 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Rick Hall, Producer, Recording Arranger, AssociatedPerformer - Johnny Burke, Author - Erroll Garner, ComposerLyricist - Etta James, MainArtist
℗ 2001 Geffen Records
Duke Ellington, Composer - Paul Francis Webster, Author - Etta James, MainArtist - RALPH BASS, Producer
℗ 1970 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Albumbeschreibung
Perhaps the most amazing thing about the singing of Etta James is not her versatility -- she has tackled and excelled in gospel, blues, R&B, soul, rock, jazz and pure pop -- but the way her singing stays unmistakably the same in all genres, always conveying strength, emotional honesty, and a subtly nuanced streak of defiant pride that allows her to make any song, no matter how strongly it might be associated with another artist, completely her own. This collection places her in the realm of jazz, compiling a dozen standards she recorded between 1960 and 1970 for the Argo and Chess imprints. Each of these sides features orchestral string and horn arrangements that give off the illusion of smooth mellowness, but it is only an illusion, because James brings all of her vocal guns to the table, and she is as taut as a garrote wire in her phrasing and every bit as sure of the outcome, approaching jazz with the same deep soul fervor she brings to everything she sings. Her take on Harold Arlen's "Stormy Weather" is a case in point. Lena Horne's signature version of the song is full of a languid and haunting resignation, but James tackles it with the defiance of a person used to removing all obstacles from her path and it becomes a persistent hymn to personal survival. Same song. Same lyrics. Different result. Or take James' rendition of the jazz standard "Misty." She fills it with barely restrained gospel fervor, turning its ethereal center inside out and giving the song a kind of stubborn sturdiness that is startling. Remarkably, she always sounds like herself, even when bathed in a backdrop of lush strings and calculated horns. This set doesn't prove that James is a jazz singer so much as it proves that James can sing jazz if and when she chooses to do so. No surprise there. She is, after all, Etta James. And thank God she is.
© Steve Leggett /TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 12 track(s)
- Total length: 00:38:00
- Main artists: Etta James
- Composer: Various Composers
- Label: GRP
- Genre: Jazz
© 2007 The Verve Music Group, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc. This Compilation ℗ 2007 The Verve Music Group, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
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