Lurlean Hunter - The Velvet Voice Of Lurlean Hunter (2-Disc Set)

Lurlean Hunter (vcl), Al Nevins, Manny Albam, Phil Moore, Jimmy Giuffre (dir), Ernie Royal, Joe Newman, Harry Edison (tp), Urbie Green (tb), Hal McKusick, Frank Wess, Al Cohn, Bud Freeman (saxes), Herbie Mann (fl), Hank Jones (p), Jim Hall (g), Milt Hinton, Trigger Alpert (b), Osie Johnson (d). Original sources: CD 1, tracks #1-12 from the RCA Victor 12" LP "Lonesome Gal" (LPM 1151), CD 1, tracks #13-24 from the VIK 12" LP "Night Life" (LX 1061), CD 2, tracks #1-12 from the VIK 12" LP "Stepping Out" (LX 1116), CD 2, tracks #13-23 from the Atlantic 12" LP "Blue And Sentimental" (SD 1344). 24-Bit Digitally Remastered.

Lurlean Hunter (1928-1983) was, with all her skills, one of the most underappreciated singers in America. Other singers, who held her in universal high regard, were in no doubt as to her quality. A singers singer, she was revered for her near perfection in vocal styling, technique, and delivery, gifts she blended into a captivating combination. This distinction is self-evident in the four albums she recorded during her career: Lonesome Gal (1955), Night Life (1956), Stepping Out (1957), and Blue and Sentimental (1960). On them she is accompanied by orchestras filled by some of the best New York jazz musicians. The skillful writing was provided by a handful of top arrangers, including Quincy Jones, Marion Evans, Manny Albam, Al Cohn, Ernie Wilkins, Phil Moore, and Jimmy Giuffre. All of them with the exception of Cohn and Wilkins also conducted their own scores. Throughout she is refreshingly unselfconscious, her voice strong and firm, her conception mature and intelligent and her phrasing meaningful. Blessed with fantastic intonation, effortless ease and innate musicianship, she also had an innately lyrical approach to the songs she sang, and they flowed out of her like something made of rich velvet, done in exquisite taste.

Album: The Velvet Voice Of Lurlean Hunter (Disc 1)
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 78:32
Size: 179.8 MB
Styles: Jazz vocals
Year: 2012

[3:59] 1. Lonesome Gal
[4:56] 2. Alone Together
[3:13] 3. It's You Or No One
[3:40] 4. You Don't Know What Love Is
[2:37] 5. You Make Me Feel So Young
[2:57] 6. My Heart And I Decided
[5:05] 7. It Never Entered My Mind
[3:11] 8. Brief Encounter
[2:19] 9. You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To
[4:40] 10. A Stranger In Town
[3:01] 11. But Not For Me
[4:10] 12. On Green Dolphin Street
[3:59] 13. Georgia On My Mind
[2:25] 14. What A Difference A Day Made
[3:06] 15. That Old Feeling
[2:38] 16. Gentlemen Friend
[2:05] 17. Have You Met Miss Jones
[3:52] 18. It's The Talk Of The Town
[3:25] 19. Night Life
[2:39] 20. It Could Happen To You
[2:00] 21. Sunday
[2:58] 22. Like Someone In Love
[3:01] 23. Moondrift
[2:27] 24. This Time The Dream's On Me

The Velvet Voice Of Lurlean Hunter (Disc 1) mc
The Velvet Voice Of Lurlean Hunter (Disc 1) zippy

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Album: The Velvet Voice Of Lurlean Hunter (Disc 2)
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 68:50
Size: 157.6 MB
Styles: Jazz vocals
Year: 2012
Art: Front

[2:12] 1. Steppin' Out With My Baby
[2:39] 2. Easy To Love
[2:18] 3. I Feel So Smoochie
[2:37] 4. Kiss Me Again
[2:17] 5. Old Devil Moon
[2:34] 6. If I Could Be With You
[3:25] 7. Blues In The Night
[2:58] 8. Nobody's Heart
[2:41] 9. You Do Something To Me
[2:48] 10. Under A Blanket Of Blue
[2:13] 11. Oh! Look At Me Now
[2:49] 12. Some Other Time
[3:04] 13. Blue Turning Grey Over You
[2:46] 14. If You Could Love Me Now
[3:15] 15. My Kinda Love
[3:25] 16. Crazy He Calls Me
[3:31] 17. Just Imagine
[3:43] 18. Blue And Sentimental
[1:49] 19. The Song Is You
[5:31] 20. Then I'll Be Tired Of You
[3:47] 21. Fool That I Am
[4:06] 22. We'll Be Together Again
[2:09] 23. As Long As I Live

The Velvet Voice Of Lurlean Hunter (Disc 2) mc
The Velvet Voice Of Lurlean Hunter (Disc 2) zippy

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Lurlean Hunter - Blue & Sentimental

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 36:43
Size: 84.1 MB
Styles: Jazz vocals
Year: 1960/2012
Art: Front

[3:01] 1. Blue Turning Grey Over You
[2:44] 2. If You Could See Me Now
[3:22] 3. Crazy He Calls Me
[3:13] 4. My Kinda Love
[3:30] 5. Just Imagine
[3:40] 6. Blue & Sentimental
[1:46] 7. The Song Is You
[5:28] 8. Then I'll Be Tired Of You
[3:44] 9. Fool That I Am
[4:03] 10. We'll Be Together Again
[2:07] 11. As Long As I Live

Singer Lurlean Hunter made five albums on her own during the second half of the '50s, starting out as a Lonesome Gal on RCA and winding up still feeling Blue & Sentimental for Atlantic. She was discovered in Chicago where she had been singing in many clubs, including a collaboration with drummer Red Saunders that held forth at the Club DeLisa. Hunter's move to New York City in 1955 was prompted by RCA's interest in recording her. The singer's recording career actually began before she left the Windy City at the behest of indie jazz labels, some of them quite short-lived -- such as Seymour, with a catalog topping out at four releases. The press described Hunter as a "blues thrush" in announcing her interpretations of three numbers actually written by the label's owner, producer and record store owner Seymour Schwartz.

The latter promotional blurb inevitably told some truth about Hunter's stylistic traits, if not her relation to winged fauna. Her recordings were more about rhythm & blues and pop than jazz, yet were done in an era when such sessions often involved fine mainstream jazz players in the accompaniment. The 1956 Night Life, for example, featured pianist Hank Jones and tenor saxophonist Al Cohn. Blue & Sentimental -- with arrangements by the progressive Jimmy Giuffre -- was reissued in 2000 as a split CD also including an album by fellow singer Betty Bennett, a former wife of pianist André Previn. Hunter's final recordings were done in 1964, at which point she was still well under 40 years old. She is known to have died young, although details of this tragedy are murky. In one version of the story she was knocked off by a mobster lover, yet whether anybody was really that mean to Lurlean cannot be completely confirmed. ~bio by Eugene Cadbourne

Blue & Sentimental

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Lurlean Hunter - Greatest Hits

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 34:02
Size: 77.9 MB
Styles: R&B, Vocal jazz
Year: 2012
Art: Front

[3:56] 1. Georgia On My Mind
[2:21] 2. What A Difference A Day Made
[2:01] 3. Have You Met Miss Jones
[3:05] 4. That Old Feeling
[3:49] 5. It's The Talk Of The Town
[2:34] 6. Gentleman Friend
[3:21] 7. Night Life
[2:35] 8. It Could Happen To You
[2:58] 9. Moondrift
[1:57] 10. Sunday
[2:56] 11. Like Someone In Love
[2:24] 12. This Time The Dream's On Me

Singer Lurlean Hunter made five albums on her own during the second half of the '50s, starting out as a Lonesome Gal on RCA and winding up still feeling Blue & Sentimental for Atlantic. She was discovered in Chicago where she had been singing in many clubs, including a collaboration with drummer Red Saunders that held forth at the Club DeLisa. Hunter's move to New York City in 1955 was prompted by RCA's interest in recording her. The singer's recording career actually began before she left the Windy City at the behest of indie jazz labels, some of them quite short-lived -- such as Seymour, with a catalog topping out at four releases. The press described Hunter as a "blues thrush" in announcing her interpretations of three numbers actually written by the label's owner, producer and record store owner Seymour Schwartz.

The latter promotional blurb inevitably told some truth about Hunter's stylistic traits, if not her relation to winged fauna. Her recordings were more about rhythm & blues and pop than jazz, yet were done in an era when such sessions often involved fine mainstream jazz players in the accompaniment. The 1956 Night Life, for example, featured pianist Hank Jones and tenor saxophonist Al Cohn. Blue & Sentimental -- with arrangements by the progressive Jimmy Giuffre -- was reissued in 2000 as a split CD also including an album by fellow singer Betty Bennett, a former wife of pianist André Previn. Hunter's final recordings were done in 1964, at which point she was still well under 40 years old. She is known to have died young, although details of this tragedy are murky. In one version of the story she was knocked off by a mobster lover, yet whether anybody was really that mean to Lurlean cannot be completely confirmed. ~bio by Eugene Chadbourne

Greatest Hits

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