Best of Etta James, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan

Great idea for a thread. I hope you get many takers.

•Etta James - I like her 50s and 60s singles the best, so I really like her Best of collection. I also really like her mid 80s record "Seven Year Itch".
•Ella Fitzgerald - My favorite recording of Ella is her 40th birthday concert in Rome ("Ella in Rome"). She is at the height of her powers here, accompanied by the nonpareil Oscar Peterson trio. The sonics are very good to dazzling. "I Loves You Porgy" is my favorite Ella ever.
•Sarah Vaughn - My favorite Sarah record is "No Count Sarah", a recording she did with the Count Basie orchestra w/o Basie. This record shows off Sarah's jazz chops beautifully and puts her at the top of the bebop vocalists. Her work on Horace Silver's "Doodlin'" is as good as any jazz she ever did. Sonics are 60s studio cool (a bit too much reverb) but fine.
•Billy Holliday - Much of the Billy Holiday that I have is on vinyl that is older than I am, so I don't know in what form it is currently available. My favorite stuff is the pre-war work she did with Lester Young. This stuff is constantly being repackaged. "Lady in Satin" is an astonishing piece of her later work, and is an essential document. Sonics are a non-issue here.

BTW, although you didn't ask I can't resist - try some Etta Jones. Great voice - somewhat similar in style to the older jazz greats. She passed recently from cancer. A commorative compilation CD, "Etta Jones, Always In Our Hearts" on Blue Note. I highly recommend it! Might even cause you to go out and buy a few of her other recordings. :-)

Excellent thread.... These are the the best kind of threads and not enough of them. There is a gapping hole in my collection for classic female jazz artiist. I am taking good notes so keep up the good work.

Etta James - "Life's Been Rough on Me"

Regards,

Try Etta's latest - "Blues to the Bone" At 67 (I think she was born in '38) she can sing the blues like nobody's business. All of her work is superior - try her first LP "At last", live from 1963 "Rocks the House", "Tell Mama" from 1968 with an amazing muscle shoals music section, and some of the later ones mentioned above. She is truly amazing.