Torch Songs [Import]

I acquired this CD mainly for the one song "There Must Be A Way" sung by Connie Boswell(I am a big Boswell fan), also I wanted to hear Lee Wiley's "You've Got Me Crying Again" in "Digital Stereo." And I had to have the cover photograph of gorgeous Lee Wiley in color laying on a couch smoking a cigerette. The Boswell track was great and so were all of the tracks on this finely remastered CD, though the digital stereo is just a slight echo to create the effect, however Billie Holiday singing "Am I Blue" makes her sound like she's in the room singing live. Some great and under-rated vocalists are here such as Ellington's canarie Ivie Anderson, the blackest white blues singer I've ever heard is Teddy Grace heard here moanin' "Love Me Or Leave Me" or as she pernounces "Love Me Oh Leave Me," and Jo Stafford who sings two heart wrenching torch songs... all of these females(aside from Billie Holiday) are now forgotten, and were all truly great jazz vocalists. Lee Wiley perhaphs one of the best jazz singers of the 30's, and of course Connee Boswell(sometimes spelled Connie) with her sensious new Orleans accent, as she would say HONEY CHILE, YOU'RE GONNA LOVE THIS, YHEA SUH, YHEA SUH! Highly Recommended, with great liner notes and bios on all the gals, with pics inside of all these lovely jazz vampires. If you love jazz or are a collector this is especially essential.

Torch Songs (yet another CD of torch songs with the same name) has some pretty incredibly beautiful torch songs for us to enjoy. The quality of this sound is rather good and the artwork is nicely done. The diversity of the artists on this CD impresses me.

The immortal Billie Holiday starts things off with a wonderful interpretation of "Am I Blue?" Singers all the way back to Ethel Waters and maybe even further back have done this number; but when Billie sings this she really puts all her heart and soul into this timeless ballad. Billie's voice is as clear as a bell and her uncanny sense of timing helps her performance along considerably. Bessie Smith also sings the "He's Gone Blues;" this older recording still sounds good and Bessie certainly knew how to belt `em out! Bessie really delves into this song to make it a very special number--great! In addition, Mildred Bailey sings "Tears In My Heart" with a big band style arrangement that works wonders for this torch song. Mildred's voice never sounded better and she delivers this flawlessly.

Ella Fitzgerald, the First Lady Of Song, does an incredibly fine job on "I'm Gonna Cry You Out Of My Heart." "I'm Gonna Cry You Out Of My Heart" shines like silver and gold when Ella sings it; and of course this torch song tugs at my heartstrings every time I hear it. Ella makes this a special highlight of this album with her sublime rendition of "I'm Gonna Cry You Out Of My Heart." Ivie Anderson also makes good on "I Got It Bad And That Ain't Good;" this classic torch song sung by Ivie lacks nothing--it's all THAT good. Ivie sings with finesse and you can easily tell she infuses this ballad with so much true feeling her own heart must have been breaking when she sang this torch song.

Peggy Lee weighs in with a fantastic interpretation of "Somebody Else Is Taking My Place;" the musical arrangement sounds somewhat upbeat but make no mistake about it--this is a fine torch song performed by Peggy Lee, one of the best songbirds who ever lived! Lena Horne also performs "Good-For-Nothin' Joe" with style, grace and much emotion; I really like "Good-For-Nothin' Joe."

Lena Horne returns to perform "One For My Baby;" this tune is very well done by Lena. "One For My Baby" is a very fine torch song that really sounds fresh and new when Lena sings it--and Frank Sinatra, who sang this often, must have been very proud! In addition, "There Will Never Be Another You" by Evelyn Knight impresses me with its natural beauty. The piano arrangement is extremely elegant and Evelyn Knight never skips a beat! The CD also ends very strong with Billie Holiday performing "My Old Flame;" Billie does great justice to this ballad and it certainly leaves you wanting more!

The torch songs on this CD truly tug at my heartstrings and the artists outdo even themselves as they sing these tunes with panache. I highly recommend this for people who like the blues, torch songs and even classic pop vocals.

› Go to Amazon.com to see both reviews  5.0 out of 5 stars