This Is Jazz #20 Review

07/13/2005 6:39 AM, AMG


Sarah Vaughan's catalog is as vast as they come. Chronicling a career that spanned the early bebop days to the late '80s, Vaughan's output ranged from early big band gems and combo sides to songbook albums and Latin forays. Along with banner releases on EmArcy, Mercury, and Roulette from the mid-'50s through most of the '60s, she also recorded a number of solid sides for Columbia. This Sony sampler contains a good chunk of those songs from 1949-1953, including classic performances of "Black Coffee," "Can't Get Out of This Mood," and "East of the Sun (And West of the Moon)." Unfortunately, the disc also features much later material from such albums as her 1987 collaboration with Brazilian guitarist Milton Nasciemento. And while their renderings of "So Many Stars" and Nasciemento's "Nothing Will Be as It Was" are fine, the radical shift in mood from the early songs is a bit much. In lieu of considering this a good first-disc option then, newcomers should instead opt for either Columbia's 16 Most Requested Songs or any of the many Verve collections of Vaughan's EmArcy and Mercury sides. ~ Stephen Cook, All Music Guide