Della Reese - Voice Of An Angel

Styles: Vocal
Year: 1996
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 65:57
Size: 153,5 MB
Art: Front

(2:24)  1. I'm Beginning To See The Light
(3:08)  2. Baby Won't You Please Come Home
(2:46)  3. Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out To Dry
(2:41)  4. I'm Just A Lucky So And So
(2:32)  5. Here's That Rainy Day
(4:51)  6. Little Girl Blue
(2:39)  7. And Now
(3:44)  8. Two Sleepy People - (from the film "Thanks For The Memory")
(2:36)  9. The End Of A Love Affair
(2:35) 10. I'll Get By
(4:21) 11. How Did He Look
(4:24) 12. All By Myself
(3:57) 13. I Had The Craziest Dream
(2:26) 14. Let's Get Away From It All
(3:13) 15. Always
(5:14) 16. Someday (You'll Want Me To Want You)
(4:24) 17. These Foolish Things
(2:45) 18. Call Me
(2:39) 19. And the Angels Sing
(2:32) 20. Don't You Know

Renowned as both a television star and a top-flight interpreter of jazz, blues, R&B, gospel, and straight-ahead pop music, Della Reese's many talents ensured a long, varied, and legendary show biz career. In addition to being nominated for both an Emmy and a Grammy and receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Reese was also an ordained minister in the Universal Foundation for Better Living, an association of churches she helped found in the early '80s.  Born Deloreese Patricia Early on July 6, 1931, the young Reese began singing in the Baptist church choir in her hometown of Detroit at age six. In 1945, having developed quite rapidly, she caught the ear of legendary gospel queen Mahalia Jackson, who invited Reese to join her touring choir; Reese did so for the next five summers. Upon entering Wayne State University to study psychology, Reese formed a women's gospel group, the Meditation Singers, but her college career was cut short by the death of her mother and her father's serious illness. Reese worked odd jobs to help support the rest of her family; she also continued to perform with the Meditation Singers and various other gospel groups. Encouraged by her pastor, Reese began singing in nightclubs in hopes of getting a singing career off the ground; recently married to a factory worker named Vermont Adolphus Bon Taliaferro, her name was too long to fit on marquees, and she eventually arrived at her performing alias by splitting up her first name. After impressing a New York agent, who promptly signed her, Reese moved to New York and joined the Erskine Hawkins Orchestra in 1953. A year later, she had a recording contract with Jubilee, for whom she scored hits like "And That Reminds Me," a 1957 million-seller.

Switching to RCA Victor, Reese landed her biggest hit in 1959 with "Don't You Know?," a song adapted from Puccini's La Bohème; this cemented her career, leading not only to plentiful appearances on variety shows, but successful nightclub tours of the country and eventually nine years of performances in Las Vegas, as well as recording contracts with a variety of labels over the next few decades. Building on her previous variety show experience, Reese made a small bit of television history in 1969 when she became the first woman to guest-host The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. Later that year, she became the first black woman to host her own variety show, the syndicated Della, which ran until 1970. Following its cancellation, Reese returned to her nightclub tours, often putting in guest appearances on television shows like The Mod Squad, Sanford and Son, and Chico and the Man; after three prior failed marriages, Reese also found a lasting relationship with producer Franklin Lett, whom she married in 1978. On October 3, 1980, while taping a song for The Tonight Show, Reese suffered a brain aneurysm that nearly proved fatal; however, thanks to a successful operation, she was able to make a full recovery. She kept up her singing career and appeared on television shows like Designing Women, L.A. Law, and Picket Fences, as well as the Eddie Murphy films Harlem Nights and The Distinguished Gentleman. Reese also starred in the Redd Foxx sitcom The Royal Family from 1991-1992, and garnered what was undoubtedly her highest level of recognition in the inspirational drama series Touched by an Angel, a quite popular program that ran for nine years, between 1994 and 2003, on the CBS network. After Touched by an Angel finished its run, Reese continued to act intermittently on television through to 2014. She died at her home in Encino, California in November 2017 at the age of 86. ~ Steve Huey https://www.allmusic.com/artist/della-reese-mn0000196544/biography

Voice Of An Angel

---

Erroll Garner - Columbia Jazz (1950-1957)

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 1996
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 53:07
Size: 124,0 MB
Art: Front

(3:10)  1. Lover
(3:16)  2. It's The Talk Of The Town
(3:43)  3. When You're Smiling (The Whole World Smiles With You)
(2:43)  4. Laura
(3:15)  5. Dancing In the Dark
(3:23)  6. How High the Moon
(2:50)  7. Easy to Love
(5:25)  8. Moonglow
(3:13)  9. Lullaby of Birdland
(3:06) 10. Poor Butterfly
(4:26) 11. If I Had You
(4:14) 12. My Heart Stood Still
(3:51) 13. Love for Sale
(3:03) 14. Dreamy
(3:22) 15. St. Louis Blues

One of the most distinctive of all pianists, Erroll Garner proved that it was possible to be a sophisticated player without knowing how to read music, that a creative jazz musician can be very popular without watering down his music, and that it is possible to remain an enthusiastic player without changing one's style once it is formed. A brilliant virtuoso who sounded unlike anyone else, on medium tempo pieces, Erroll Garner often stated the beat with his left hand like a rhythm guitar while his right played chords slightly behind the beat, creating a memorable effect. His playful free-form introductions (which forced his sidemen to really listen), his ability to play stunning runs without once glancing at the keyboard, his grunting, and the pure joy that he displayed while performing were also part of the Erroll Garner magic. 

Garner, whose older brother Linton was also a fine pianist, appeared on the radio with the Kan-D-Kids at the age of ten. After working locally in Pittsburgh, he moved to New York in 1944 and worked with Slam Stewart's trio during 1944-1945 before going out on his own. By 1946, Garner had his sound together, and when he backed Charlie Parker on his famous Cool Blues session of 1947, the pianist was already an obvious giant. His unclassifiable style had an orchestral approach straight from the swing era but was open to the innovations of bop. From the early '50s on, Garner's accessible style became very popular and he never seemed to have an off day up until his forced retirement (due to illness) in early 1975. His composition "Misty" became a standard. Garner, who had the ability to sit at the piano without prior planning and record three albums in one day (all colorful first takes), made many records throughout his career for such companies as Savoy, Mercury, RCA, Dial, Columbia, EmArcy, ABC-Paramount, MGM, Reprise, and his own Octave label. ~ Scott Yanow https://www.allmusic.com/artist/erroll-garner-mn0000206967/biography

Columbia Jazz (1950-1057)

---