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Sassy Sings

Sassy Sings is a 1966 compilation LP collecting tracks by the great Sarah Vaughan recorded in 1946 and '47. Given those dates, it's not surprising that the sound quality isn't the best. 'September Song', which in all likelihood would have sounded exquisite to those lucky few present at the time, presents those of us in posterity with a need to make allowances for something that sounds like it was taped in a subway tunnel. The closing track - 'The One I Love (Belongs To Somebody Else)' - gives one the impression that the microphones were in a room across the hall from the one where the musicians were playing. The recording quality of some of the other tracks isn't so bad, but the fidelity is never high. Moreover, my copy of the record is hardly in pristine condition, and the pops & crackles from it don't help matters.

Despite all that, some of the tremendous amount of light & warmth in these performances does still frequently shine through. Vaughan's voice is of course a marvel - at this point, her use of vibrato seems less marked than it would become (I sometimes find it an obtrusive aspect of her later recordings). She's accompanied by bands big & small, with Kenny Clarke and Bud Powell among the few names I recognised from the credited musicians. 

This album was my introduction to the song 'You're Blasé', which has since become a great favourite - though I've latterly come to prefer Shirley Horn's rendition of it. 'Tenderly' is very lovely, and 'If You Could See Me Now', composed for Vaughan by Tadd Dameron, might be the one of all her songs I love most. The version of 'Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child' included here is the odd-one-out on the record, with Vaughan deploying only the upper reaches of her range in it, to striking, almost operatic effect.


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