Personnel:
Wanda Stafford, Patricia Scot (vcl), Bill Russo, Kenyon Hopkins (arr), Creed Taylor (cond), Bernie Glow, Burt Collins, Louis Mucci, Johnny Glasel (tp), Bill Elton, Don Sebesky, Eddie Bert, Kenneth Guffey, Jimmy Cleveland, Jim Dahl, Frank Rehak (tb), Dick Hixon (b-tb), Dick Meldonian (cl, as), Phil Woods (as), Jerome Richardson (fl, ts), Tony Ferina (bs), Bill Evans (p), Howard Collins, Barry Galbraith, Al Casamenti (g), Joe Venuto (vib, perc), John Drew, Milt Hinton, Al Hall (b), Ed Shaughnessy, Don Lamond (d)
Reference: FSR V101 CD
Bar code: 8427328641012
The Best Voices Time Forgot
Collectible Albums by Top Female Vocalists
· Collector's Edition
· 2 Original LPs on 1 CD
· Original Cover Art, Liner Notes
· Complete Personnel Details
· Stereo/Hi-Fi Recordings
· Newly Remastered in 24-Bit
In Love for the Very First Time
The young and pretty Wanda Stafford created a big stir at The Roundtable in her debut in New York in 1960… and no wonder! For Miss Stafford has a voice, a style and a feeling for a song that turns in warm and attractive performances, arranged and conducted by the talented Bill Russo.
Once Around the Clock
Patricia Scot will resist all attempts of categorizing. Don’t be surprised if, the first time, you only think about how wonderful the songs are—that’s how good Pat is, and she’s why they’re wonderful.
"Both these names are worthy of being lifted out of obscurity and the fact that they were served by arrangements from Bill Russo and Creed Taylor back in 1960 and 1959 respectively gives notice of how their talents were rated all those years ago.
Stafford made her New York debut in the same year as her album was recorded in the same city, which ensured she had names and top session men backing her. They do more than justice to Let There Be Love which, quite remarkably, carries only the faintest echoes of Nat King Cole’s rendering. Stafford invests the lyric with a quite different emotional pitch and Russo’s arrangement happily has the air of his work and his alone.
Bill Evans arguably didn’t get to accompany singers enough on record, and here he shows how sympathetic he was in that role on the lyrically airy I Enjoy Being A Girl, which despite the lyric is the kind of superior pop song that was rife in that more innocent era.
Scot doesn’t cover that song in her set, but she gets unassuming gold out of Where Are You (Now That I Need You) where Taylor’s muted colours behind the vocal are offset by a burst of brass.
In the context of this album Let’s Sit Down And Talk It Over clocks in at an epic three minutes and 17 seconds, but within that miniature framework we get the embarrassment of riches which Is Scot’s knowing take on the lyric and some brief declamatory statements from Phil Woods.
It seems there was an awful lot of talent around when it came to quality singers in the late 50s and early 60s and these two fit perfectly in Fresh Sound’s new Best Voices That Time Forget series. We should be grateful to the label for resurrecting them after all these years."
Nic Jones (April 25, 2019)
https://jazzjournal.co.uk
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"There are so many singers who recorded an album or two, or a few singles, or both, but never achieved widespread fame. Of course, there were many factors that could account for that, both with singers from yesteryear and young singers who are currently recording. These include timing, competition, changing popular tastes, record label promotion, management, personal decisions about sustaining a performing career, and luck. Just because a singer never made it big does not mean they were untalented, and all of the singers represented here are a case in point.
The first twofer contains albums by two singers who I had never heard before, Wanda Stafford and Patricia Scot. Ms. Stafford’s album, “In Love for the Very First Time,” was arranged and conducted by Bill Russo and features Bill Evans on piano. Ms. Stafford is definitely a student of the cool school, which basically began with Anita O'Day, who was followed by June Christy and Chris Connor among others. Although I like many recordings of the cool school singers, it is not my favourite style of singing. Ms. Stafford has a likeable presence, an excellent sense of rhythm, and thoughtfully interprets the lyrics. She is a good storyteller when she sings. However, despite the times when her voice was quite bright and on key, she tends to be flat. She was only about 20 years old when she recorded this album, and there is a sense that her style and technique were still not fully-developed, which is understandable. The arrangements are jazz-oriented, and never overwhelm her. I have listened to all the albums reviewed here multiple times, and this one has grown on me more and more each time I listen to it. Some of the highlights are the title song, “Hooray for Love,” “Ridin’ on the Moon,” and “The Late, Late Show.”
She did not record any other albums until decades later. She was divorced and had a baby girl at the time she recorded “In Love for the Very First Time.” After touring for a short while after recording it, she quit to be with her daughter, who was being taken care of by Ms. Stafford’s sister. Originally from Indianapolis, Indiana, where she began singing before she moved to New York and soon recorded this album, she returned home and sang in local supper clubs. She eventually moved to the San Francisco Bay Area, where she still performs in jazz nightspots, and is a vocal teacher and coach.
The album by Patricia Scot is titled “Once Around the Clock,” which has arrangements by Kenyon Hopkins and an orchestra conducted by Creed Taylor. Ms. Scot’s voice is very bright and pretty and expressive and supple and always in tune. She does not remind me of any other singer. She is comfortable with any tempo. The album hits the ground running with a fast and breezy arrangement of a Sigmund Romberg and Oscar Hammerstein II song titled “Once Around the Clock,” which I had never heard before. “Let’s Sit Down and Talk It Over” was written by Ms. Scot, and it is quite impressive for someone who was not a full-time songwriter. She seems to have the most fun with an excellent rendition of “Do It Again.” This was her only album, but on her website, http://www.patriciascot.com/, there are many other recordings available for listening. These include recordings for Chicago’s Tiffany Records; songs with the Jimmy Lyons Trio; recordings when she was performing in Cleveland, Ohio in the 1960s; a few commercial jingles; and some songs recorded over the last couple decades."
David Colp (April, 2019)
In Tune International Magazine
Inquiries: gerrystonestreet@gmail.com
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Ringer of the Week ★★★★★
"If cool-toned voices in the vein of June Christy, Anita O'Day and Chris Connor are your thing, you are set for a series of discs made for your ears, as Fresh Sound Records has uncovered a cache of ladies that were under-recorded, under-appreciated and under-exposed during their time, but have been brought back into the light to be re-evaluated. Each singer is surrounded by some top notch jazz artists and arrangers, with names like Bill Evans and Gil Evans just for starters to whet your palate. Put on your seat belts for this ride!
The first disc teams Wanda Stafford’s 1960 In Love For the Very First Time with Patricia Scot’s Once Around the Clock. Stafford’s delivery is an earthier take than Chris Conner, teaming well on a 1960 session with Bill Russo’s band that includes Don Sebesky/tb, Bill Evans/p, Ed Shaughnesy/dr and Howard Collins/g in various formats. The larger ensembles include some rich woodwinds for “Hooray For Love” and a hiply muted At Long Last Love.” She’s finger snapping sleek in a quintet format with Evans on Come By Sunday” and an inviting “I Only Have Eyes For You.”
Patricia Scot fronts an orchestra conducted by Creed Taylor for an NYC 1959 recording that includes Jimmy Cleveland/tb, Phil Woods/as, Jerome Richardson/fl-ts, Milt Hinton/b and Don Lamond/dr among others. She’s oozy with Woods on “Do It Again” and desultory during “Nothing At All.” The big band is bold as Scot is urgent on “Just Once Around the Clock” and inviting with Joe Venuto’s vibes for “Where Are You” and standing by the lamppost for the noir “Mad About the Boy.” Who let these ladies off the leash?
For each album of the serie, there are excellent liner notes to provide the background for the singers, explaining the paths and projection of their short careers. Albums like these make you wonder why certain vocalists “make it” and others have to wait half a century to finally be appreciated. You won’t be disappointed by these discoveries."
George W. Harris (February 25, 2019)
http://www.jazzweekly.com
