Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #101632 in Digital Music Album
• Published on: 2001-02-06
• Released on: 2001-02-06
• Running time: 0 seconds

Customer Reviews

Stellar in every way
I lack words to express the way I feel about this album without sounding silly. It really is an extraordinary album, truly a landmark album in jazz.

First of all it presents some of the greatest tunes of Basie. The originals by Basie are already wonderful, but singing the arrangements and putting words on Lester Young solos is just out of this world, it is a mark of genius. Jon Hendricks is truly stellar, with his hip style (ya dig it?). His sidekicks are excellent as well.

I have worn out this album so much it's not even funny. If you are into Basie and/or vocalese, get it now.

Perhaps some people will point out the overlap with the compilation called Everybody's boppin; well I say get that one as well. :-) In fact get everything by LHR while you're at it. And get Double Six albums too because their covers of the Quincy Jones / Basie tunes from the late 50's is the other side of this vocalese coin.

The best of the best
Despite the impressive moments of the Manhattan Transfer and The New York Voices, L H & R remains the greatest vocal jazz ensemble ever. And this is the best of their all too few albums. Their covers/re-creations of Basie's "Down for Double", "Avenue C", "Backstage Blues", and of course, the Basie signature tune of "One O'Clock Jump", are wonders to behold. Annie Ross was at her peak in this album, and it shows; without her, this group is "pretty good"; with her, and the group is--well, I just said.

A turning point in life of a music-mad guy
Finally in print again,this first album by Lambert,Hendricks and Ross deserves to be sent into space as a pride of human race.Not only that Verve restored the original album,added excelllent liner notes (by Will Friewald,author of "Jazz singing" - my Bible) and new photos,but packaged everything in attractive fold-out case and as a special bonus,here are 2 songs that Lambert & Hendricks recorded years before they met Ross - clearly,they had a vision of their future.(Its interesting to compare "Cloudburst" recorded with anonumous group of backing studio singers to a same song recorded later with Annie Ross whose presence give this song something it lacked first time around.)The liner notes give a fascinating glimpse into birth of this album - which forever changed face of vocal jazz - as three singers literally starved while recording it for months,such was their belief in their work.To say that this is the album that changes listeners lives would be a undestatement: its a kind of album that starts life-long relationship with these singers and its just natural that after this,you will search high and low for more of their work.As for me,at the moment when I heard it yesterday,it made me forget where I am coming from,where I am going,what day I had behind me and whats waiting in the future - its simply madness,genius and bliss that brings us closer to something divine.