Sarah Vaughan: If You Could See Me Now
Musicians:
Sarah Vaughan (vocals), Freddie Webster (trumpet), Leo Parker (baritone sax), Bud Powell (piano),
Leroy Harris (alto sax), Hank Ross (bass clarinet), Ted Sturgis (bass) and a nine-piece string section
.Composed by Tadd Dameron & Carl Sigman. Arranged and conducted by Tadd Dameron
.Recorded: New York, May 7, 1946
Rating: 84/100 (learn more)
A year after recording with Dizzy Gillespie & Charlie Parker, the finest singer of the bebop era had already turned her back on bop. This track, written by bopper Tadd Dameron, backed by such bop luminaries as big-toned trumpeter Freddie Webster, Bud Powell and Kenny Clarke, is musically aloof from bop. Rather, it anticipates the gooey ballads that made Miss Vaughan a staple of the 1950s hit parade. Technically the most gifted vocalist ever associated with jazz, the Divine One kept the genre at arm's length, going so far as to apprise Down Beat in 1982: "I'm not a jazz singer." Hearing this track, we wonder if she ever was.
Reviewer: Alan Kurtz
Tags: 1940s jazz · jazz vocals
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