This is an amazing package of 50 of the greatest songs from one of the greatest vocalists of all time -- and at the bargain rate of $5.99! The fact that a few of her more memorable tunes are missing (Strange Fruit, Fine and Mellow) is a testament to the great breadth she had.
Our story starts in Pennsylvania coal country, 1962. Jazz singer Sheila Jordan had taken her new friend George Russell to visit the hardscrabble hills where she'd spent her early years. At a local beer garden, Jordan performed an impromptu "You Are My Sunshine" with her grandmother on piano. Russell was an ultramodern composer, and the old song as corny as breakfast flakes - but Sheila's version got to him. Back in New York, he arranged… more »
Tenor saxophonist Lester Young was born 27 August, 1909, and even at 100 he may be the coolest of cool jazz cats. He was (to single out a quality he prized) an original - a contrarian, even. For awhile he even held the bell of his horn out at a weird, unnatural angle. David Stone Martin once drew him playing in front of the tower of Pisa, leaning the opposite way. Young had his own way… more »
