The Early Sylvia Syms, Vol. 2

It's a pleasure to present what may be the most elusive Sylvia Syms LP - After Dark, on the very short-lived Version label.

In my first installment of this series, I speculated that this album came from 1952. But now, after further investigation, it seems to be from 1955. That's because Bart Howard's "In Other Words" (better known by its later title of "Fly Me to the Moon") wasn't written until 1954, and it concludes the LP.

Sylvia Syms

As with the 10-inch version of her first album, Syms is here accompanied by a trio - Gene DiNovi on piano, Russ Saunders on bass, and Herb Wasserman on drums. The latter was also in Barbara Carroll's trio on Songs by Sylvia Syms. This is another one of those "after hours" records - made after the clubs closed, leaving the musicians in peace. Annotator Rogers Whitaker of the New Yorker does not specify where it was made, but implies it was in someone's apartment, without benefit of an engineer present.

Perhaps so. Regardless, the sound is good - sufficient to convey Syms' voice with great fidelity and DiNovi's accompaniment clearly. The rhythm is muted.

This set shows off Syms' jazz singing to good effect. She plays with the rhythm and the melody, always for expressive ends. This is another 10-inch LP, so it has only eight songs.

Gene DiNovi

Sylvia starts off with "Let There Be Love," a song that was having a moment in the mid-50s, even though it was composed in 1940. Syms treats it with affection. It's the only hit by Lionel Rand and Ian Grant. (Bobby Short's version can be found here.)

"When Your Lover Has Gone" is another superb number by a songwriter mainly known for one work - composer-arranger E.A. Swan. One wonders how such a superb song didn't lead to more.

Our next songwriting team had no problem producing hit after hit. "The Gentleman Is a Dope" is by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein, from one of their few shows that wasn't an enormous success - Allegro. (You can find the version by Lisa Kirk, who introduced the song on Broadway, here.)

Gordon Jenkins had a penchant for sad songs, and "Goodbye" is one of the saddest. Benny Goodman was the first to record it - in 1935, when Jenkins was only 25. It became BG's closing theme.

"It's De-Lovely," from Cole Porter's 1936 show Red, Hot and Blue, could not be more of a contrast. Syms is in high spirits on this one.

The most obscure song on the LP - at least in retrospect - is "There's a Man in My Life," one of the last songs that Fats Waller wrote before his death in 1943 at age 39. It comes from the show Early to Bed, and was written with George Marion.

"You Do Something to Me" is a chance for Syms to shine, which she does in this Cole Porter standard from 1929's Fifty Million Frenchmen.

When this LP was issued, the least-known song was the only new one - "In Other Words," which Bart Howard had written not long before. The first recording was by Kaye Ballard in 1954, with Syms and Chris Connor following the next year. The song really took off after being renamed, although it was recorded under its original title as late as 1962. Frank Sinatra's powerhouse rendition with the Count Basie band in 1964 sealed its popularity.

Sylvia's version - complete with the excellent verse - could not be more different from Frank's - intimate, affectionate and just right. As is the whole LP, for that matter.

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