Time: 54:47
Size: 125.4 MB
Styles: Jazz/Blues, Big band
Year: 1958/1999
Art: Front
[3:35] 1. After You've Gone
[3:17] 2. Send Me To The 'lectric Chair
[3:09] 3. Jailhouse Blues
[3:34] 4. Trombone Butter
[4:02] 5. You've Been A Good Old Wagon
[3:37] 6. Careless Love
[4:55] 7. Backwater Blues
[2:47] 8. If I Could Be With You One Hour Tonight
[3:13] 9. Me And My Gin
[3:03] 10. Fine Fat Daddy
[3:35] 11. Trombone Butter
[4:01] 12. Careless Love
[3:53] 13. Send Me To The 'lectric Chair
[3:20] 14. Me And My Gin
[4:38] 15. Backwater Blues
Dinah Washington, Composer, Vocals; Eddie Chamblee, Arranger, Sax (Tenor); Melba Liston, Guest Artist, Trombone; Quentin Jackson, Julian Priester, Trombone; Sahib Shihab, Charles Davis, Guest Artist, Sax (Baritone); McKinley Easton, Sax (Baritone); Harold Ousley, Sax (Tenor); Blue Mitchell, Clark Terry, Guest Artist, Trumpet; Flip Ricard, Trumpet; Wynton Kelly, Guest Artist, Piano; Jack Wilson, James Craig, Piano; Robare Edmonson, Arranger, Bass; Paul E. West, Robert Lee Wilson, Bass; Max Roach, Guest Artist, Drums; James Slaughter, Drums.
Gifted with a strong, beautiful voice and very precise phrasing, Dinah Washington translated Bessie Smith's irrepressible spirit and flair even better than Billie Holiday, Smith's most famous devotee. For her tribute album, Washington avoided Smith's best-known songs ("'Tain't Nobody's Bizness If I Do," "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out," "Baby Won't You Please Come Home"). Instead, she wisely concentrated on the more defiant standards from "The Empress of the Blues," including "Send Me to the 'Lectric Chair," "Jailhouse Blues," and "You've Been a Good Ole Wagon." Washington sounds simply glorious, focused on alternating Smith's phrasing to emphasize her own gospel roots. The accompaniment, by Eddie Chamblee and His Orchestra, emphasizes the vaudeville and Dixieland sound of early-century blues, heavy on the slide trombone, growling trumpet, and skeletal, rickety percussion. Reissued several times (occasionally under the title The Bessie Smith Songbook), Dinah Washington Sings Bessie Smith charts a perfect balance between tribute and genuine artistic statement. A Verve master edition reissue added alternate takes of "Trombone Butter" and "Careless Love," plus three songs taken from a Newport performance later in 1958. ~John Bush
Gifted with a strong, beautiful voice and very precise phrasing, Dinah Washington translated Bessie Smith's irrepressible spirit and flair even better than Billie Holiday, Smith's most famous devotee. For her tribute album, Washington avoided Smith's best-known songs ("'Tain't Nobody's Bizness If I Do," "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out," "Baby Won't You Please Come Home"). Instead, she wisely concentrated on the more defiant standards from "The Empress of the Blues," including "Send Me to the 'Lectric Chair," "Jailhouse Blues," and "You've Been a Good Ole Wagon." Washington sounds simply glorious, focused on alternating Smith's phrasing to emphasize her own gospel roots. The accompaniment, by Eddie Chamblee and His Orchestra, emphasizes the vaudeville and Dixieland sound of early-century blues, heavy on the slide trombone, growling trumpet, and skeletal, rickety percussion. Reissued several times (occasionally under the title The Bessie Smith Songbook), Dinah Washington Sings Bessie Smith charts a perfect balance between tribute and genuine artistic statement. A Verve master edition reissue added alternate takes of "Trombone Butter" and "Careless Love," plus three songs taken from a Newport performance later in 1958. ~John Bush
Dinah Sings Bessie Smith
