Felicia Sanders Sings Kurt Weill

I am belatedly filling a request from some time ago with this fine recording from Felicia Sanders, performing the songs of Kurt Weill.

This is an exceptionally good record, with Sanders is excellent voice and in total sympathy with the material. The opposite of the cool singers then in vogue (although she may have picked up a trick or two from Chris Connor), her intense approach is much more along the lines of Judy Garland.

Felicia Sanders

The repertoire is drawn from Weill's American works, starting with 1935's Johnny Johnson. (Side note: the jacket doesn't mention it, but the lyrics for that play were by Paul Green.) "Mon Ami, My Friend" from Johnny Johnson is the closest in its sound world to Weill's German works. The liner notes aver that Sanders is evoking the music hall singers of Weimar Germany in her approach, but I also think she may be paying homage to her idol, Edith Piaf, and perhaps Lotte Lenya, who had recorded the song for the musical's 1955 studio cast.

Sanders' husband, Irving Joseph, authored the excellent arrangements, which stay away from the Die Dreigroschenoper sound for the most part, except for "Mon Ami, My Friend."

Original cover

The Time label marketed this LP in 1960 with a cover mimicking the minimalist style that Josef Albers had developed for Command records. My copy is from the Mainstream reissue of a few years later, which had a more appropriate cover. Unfortunately my pressing is mono, although the sound is well balanced and pleasing.

Felicia Sanders first came to public notice in 1953, with her vocal on Percy Faith's hit recording of "The Song from Moulin Rouge." She went on to be a popular cabaret singer at The Blue Angel and other New York boîtes. She died of cancer at a relatively early age.