Search - Sarah Vaughan :: Definitive Sarah Vaughan

A Sassy Album

augustunicorn | Shreveport, LA USA | 10/13/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"For anyone who is a fan of Sarah Vaughan, I would highly recommend this album. It is an overview of her whole career. It included tracks from her recordings with Clifford Brown to her work with Quincy Jones and even her recordings of Broadway hits. This album has a little bit of everything. It includes my favorite Sarah Vaughan track "Lullaby Of Birdland", which has recently been redone by Dianne Reeves on her album "The Calling: Celebrating Sarah Vaughan". I think Dianne Reeves captures the true essence of the original track very well, with a few minor alterations of her own. Also included on this album is "It's Crazy", another one of my favorite Sassy tracks. This one was recently redone by Natalie Cole on her album "Ask A Woman Who Knows", which is also a highly recommended album. This album "The Definitive Sarah Vaughn" is a must for any collector of music by legendary Jazz Divas. I give this album a five-star rating."

Brilliance Personified: Sarah "Sassy" Vaughan

M. Allen Greenbaum | California | 10/27/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Hearing this album is a little like indulging in a triple-scoop sundae of something like "super colossal chocolate decadence." Ms. Vaughan's vocals are uniformly outstanding, and to hear them at one setting is almost too rich, too overwhelming an experience. Her mastery is such that one begins to lose sight of just how good each song is on its own, one becomes so caught up in her operatic swoons, trills, and tremolos, her smoky, low, head tones, and her ironic little girl high notes that you lose the forest for the trees. I think it's better to sample this CD a few songs at a time, so that you can really appreciate what she does with her singing, and not get lost in the pyrotechnics of her technique.



While I enthusiastically recommend this CD, there's a certain uniformity to their magnificence. That may seem like an odd critique, but I would have liked more of the early Sarah Vaughan: This collection delves too much into her mid to late 1950's recordings, and that there's not enough contrast between songs. It the producers of this album had included cuts from her earlier "It's Magic" CD (also reviewed and available at Amazon.com), we'd have somewhat more variety, and a better history of her development as a singer.



Still, this is a little like complaining that a book of Picasso's Blue Period should include other themes as well. In my opinion, Ms. Vaughan is the greatest jazz vocalist after Billie Holiday, and this album brings us some of her most brilliant work. (The sound quality is also generally excellent, something that cannot be said for "It's Magic."). The song selection is outstanding and varied, from the opening Billy Eckstine duet to standards, or songs that she made into standards. (She was the first person to record "Tenderly.") The exceptionally well-written and informative liner notes conclude with the recording dates and personnel (when available) for each track. Culled from several of her finest albums, this is an excellent introduction for those just discovering Ms. Vaughan, and a superb one-CD collection for those long familiar with her majesty."