Styles: Vocal
Year: 2005
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 37:46
Size: 87,6 MB
Art: Front
(3:37) 1. These Foolish Things
(3:14) 2. Bargain Day
(3:48) 3. The End Of A Love Affair
(3:30) 4. Glad To Be Unhappy
(5:00) 5. Ballad Of The Sad Cafe
(4:23) 6. Good Morning Heartache
(4:27) 7. Something I Dreamed Last Night
(4:51) 8. Lilac Wine
(4:52) 9. One For My Baby (And One More For The Road)
Year: 2005
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 37:46
Size: 87,6 MB
Art: Front
(3:37) 1. These Foolish Things
(3:14) 2. Bargain Day
(3:48) 3. The End Of A Love Affair
(3:30) 4. Glad To Be Unhappy
(5:00) 5. Ballad Of The Sad Cafe
(4:23) 6. Good Morning Heartache
(4:27) 7. Something I Dreamed Last Night
(4:51) 8. Lilac Wine
(4:52) 9. One For My Baby (And One More For The Road)
Chris Connor uses several different musical settings for this album of torch songs, but the main distinction is between the arrangements that employ strings, such as "The End of a Love Affair," and those that use horns, such as "Bargain Day." The backgrounds color Connor's vocal interpretations, and she often interacts with the musicians, notably with flautist Eddy Jaspar in "These Foolish Things," a virtual duet. But her primary goal is to render the lyrics with a combination of precision and emotional distance. In this sense, the heart of the album is "Glad to Be Unhappy," which Connor begins by singing the rarely heard introductory verse, then gives musical coloration to by varying the notes at the end of each line. The listener is not meant to believe the emotions the lyrics describe, but rather to savor them along with the singer. Charles DeForest's "Ballad of the Sad Café," which takes nothing but its title from Carson McCullers' popular 1951 novella, is nevertheless literary in its descriptions of lonely people, and Connor, again through note alteration, gives it a reading that puts it at a further emotional remove. The trick, of course, is that the singer's posture puts her in an even darker position than that of the songwriters; at least they are still feeling something, while she seems to be so far from love that she is denying all feeling. And in that denial, her torch burns all the brighter. ~ William Rulhmann https://www.allmusic.com/album/sings-ballads-of-the-sad-cafe-mw0000478244
Personnel: Vocals – Chris Connor; Alto Saxophone – Marshall Royal, Phil Woods; Baritone Saxophone – Charlie Fowlkes; Bass – Don Payne, Eddie Jones; Cello [Violoncello] – Dave Soyer, Maurice Brown; Conductor, Arranged By – Ralph Sharon; Drums – Billy Exiner, Ed Shaughnessy, Sonny Payne; Flute – Bobby Jaspar; Guitar – Barry Galbraith, Freddie Green, Kenny Burrell; Piano – Stan Free ; Reeds [Saxes] – Bobby Jaspar, Jerry Sanfino, Morton Lewis, Stan Webb, Steve Perlow Tenor Saxophone – Frank Foster, Seldon Powell; Trombone – Al Grey, Eddie Bert, Frank Rehak, Dick Hixon, Wayne Andre, Willie Dennis; Trumpet – Donald Byrd, Ernie Royal, Harry Edison, Joe Newman, Snooky Young; Viola – Dave Markowitz, Isadore Zir; Violin – Gene Orloff, George Ockner, Harry Katzman, Harry Melnikoff, Harry Urbont, Leo Kruczek, Mac Ceppos, Ray Free, Sam Rand, Sylvan Shulman, Tosha Samaroff;
Sings Ballads Of The Sad Cafe
