Artist:Sarah Vaughan
Song:Tenderly
Album:Verve Jazz Masters 42:The Jazz Sides
This budget comp is probably the perfect introduction to one of the all time great jazz singers. Sarah Vaughan was born Mar. 27, 1924 in Newark, NJ. She sang in church as a child and took piano lessons. After winning a talent contest at the Apollo Theatre, it appears that Billy Eckstine brought her to the Earl Hines band. When Eckstine left to form his own band in 1944, he took Sarah, Dizzy Gillespie & Charlie Parker with him. Jazz critic Leonard Feather was the first to record Sarah as a solo artist in 1946. Sarah married her manager George Treadwell and signed with Columbia in 1949. She had success but was unhappy with the pop nature of the records. So she signed with Mercury in 1953. The deal was she would record pop records for Mercury and jazz records for their jazz label EmArcy. She worked with producer Bob Shad and a lot of jazz musicians like Clifford Brown. Shad would sign Sarah again when he started Mainstream Records in 1970. Sarah would go to Roulette Records in 1959. Though she made some fine records there, the company was well known for shady business practices and she returned to Mercury in 1963. This version of Tenderly is from the 1963 album Sassy Swings The Tivoli with Kirk Stuart on piano, Charles Williams on bass and George Hughes on drums. Quincy Jones produced the album. Sarah Vaughan continued to record and tour extensively until her death on Apr. 3, 1990 at age 66. Sarah Vaughan was nicknamed Sassy for her unique vocal style and her music holds up very well today. Here's Sarah Vaughan performing Perdido in the 1955 film Rhythm & Blues Revue.
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