Personnel:
Donna Brooks (vcl), Bobby Scott, Alex Smith (p), Chuck Wayne (g), Milt Hinton, Paul Worthington (b), William Exiner, Angelo Paoli (d)
Reference: FSR V141 CD
Bar code: 8427328641418
The Best Voices Time Forgot
Collectible Albums by Top Female Vocalists
· Collector's Edition
· 2 Original releases (EP+LP) on 1 CD
· Original Cover Art, Liner Notes
· Complete Personnel Details
· Newly Remastered in 24-Bit
Soft and Slow
Artistically known as Donna Brooks, Louise Smith (1926-2009), a native of Philadelphia, was a classically trained singer who switched to supper clubs and wound up in New York as a production singer at the Roxy Theatre. Under the tutelage of Mat Mathews, she moved into jazz. As she put it, “I started to like jazz… I lowered my range about two octaves, and overnight, I found myself.” “Soft and Slow” marked her fine debut. Donna’s main charm was her throaty, full voice, respect for lyrics, and pleasing vocal texture. She was easy to listen to and was certainly several cuts above most pop vocalists. Naturally, it was important to her that the substance of the song be worthy, and for this collection, she harvested some of the better bits of romantic poetry that existed in wisps among the voluminous mediocrities of Tin Pan Alley. Backing Donna was a group notably tailored to her own approach—imaginative and swinging. It was the Chuck Wayne Quartet, with the incomparable Chuck on guitar, Bobby Scott on piano, Milt Hinton on bass, and Billy Exiner on drums.
I'll Take Romance
“Donna sang with that withholding quality which I admired in singers and in a Carmen McRae manner (generally not an imitation, mind you, but an adaptation, not at all strange when you considered that she studied with Mat Mathews, who did most of Carmen’s early recordings),” wrote Metronome editor Bill Coss. Certainly, her efforts in this album, “I’ll Take Romance,” defined more than pleasant efficacy with an intimate form of jazz expression. She had fine assistance here from a trio composed of pianist Alex Smith (her husband), bassist Paul Worthington, and drummer Angelo Paoli. The essence of Donna’s charm lay in her careful, thoughtful delivery of lyrics, and a gratifying facility for full enunciation of words while seasoning with appropriate feeling and shading. It was all the more refreshing in this period of jazz vocalists so severely instrumentalizing as to sacrifice the story of the song almost completely.
I'll Take Romance
"New York comedy and cabaret singer-cum-jazz vocalist Donna Brooks is heard here on her third recorded outing for the Dawn label, and her first true full-length. Recorded in 1956, the smoky, sultry voiced of Brooks has a delivery that is a dead cross between Billie Holiday and Dinah Washington. With a fronting band of a generic piano trio, Brooks is nonetheless a fine interpreter of modern jazz song. Here she covers the Kaye/Mossman classic "Full Moon And Empty Arms," Mel Torme's "A Stranger In Town," Rodgers and Hart's "I Didn't Know What Time It Was," Cole Porter's "You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To," and the Martin & Blane nugget "An Occasional Man," and infuses them with a beautifully haunting femme fatale quality, with a perfect ear for nuance and color, and stunning pronunciation and articulation. The other selections on the set are as satisfying, if not as remarkable. In all, a fine debut with a show of promise that was never realized."
—Thom Jurek (All Music Guide)
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"The 1950s and 60s were a time that were overloaded with a surfeit of female vocalists, and it was simply impossible to keep up with all of them. Fresh Sound Records does us a service by reissuing albums by ladies that deserve a second look…
From New York, Donna Brooks has an understated dry ice tone that hints at Peggy Lee and June Christy, and draws you in with soft whispers. Her 1954 album includes the lyrical Chuck Wayne/g as well as Milt Hinton/b, William Exiner/dr and Bobby Scott/p, and she softly sways through “Gone With The Wind” and The Things We Did Last Summer”. In a trio setting with Alex Smith/p, Paul Worthington/b and Angelo Paoli/dr she is gorgeously restrained on “I Didn’t Know What Time It Was” and “I’ll Take Romance” with her flickering like a candle on “You’re Nearer”. Too Darned Hot!
Includes a nice bio and copious session notes. Don’t let this lady pass you by."
—George W. Harris (October 21, 2024)
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