SARAH VAUGHAN
Linger Awhile (Pablo)
Reviewed by Shaun Dale

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Sarah Vaughan's name will be found close to the top of any list of great women in jazz. Some would argue it should be the first name on such a list. I'd be hard pressed to come up with many convincing counter arguments.

This new release offers 16 previously unreleased performances by Vaughan and it's an essential addition to her impressive discography. Amazingly, this is the first release of her stunning performance at the 1957 Newport Jazz Festival, which fills the first half of the disc. At the time of the festival, Sarah Vaughan was at the crest of a successful crossover from pop songstress to jazz virtuoso. The playful and energetic approach she shows on these live tracks are a vibrant display of the reason the audience came to know her by the affectionate tag "Sassy." She was that. And she was magnificent.

The rest of the album moves forward nearly a quarter of a century to provide a set of alternate takes from several of the albums she recorded for Pablo in the late seventies and early eighties. Sassy was a bit more salty by that time. Though her vocal powers were undiminished, the years had seasoned her sound. Most noticeable is a stronger blues sense, even when the material isn't blues in any strict sense. There's an element of power, too, that seems drawn from an inner resource that only experience provides.

Linger Awhile provides a valuable look at two phases of one remarkable career. In doing so, it provides both an intriguing introduction to a great singer and an irreplaceable addition to the collection of the committed Vaughan fan.

Track List:

If This Isn't Love * (I'm Afraid) The Masquerade Is Over * All Of Me * Black Coffee * Sometimes I'm Happy * Poor Butterfly * Linger Awhile * Medley: Time/Tenderly * I Didn't Know What Time It Was * I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good) * That's All * I Let A Song Go Out Of My Heart * I'm Just A Lucky So And So * Teach Me Tonight * Just Friends * I Hadn't Anyone Till You

© 2000 - Shaun Dale