From the Back Room: the Early Sarah Vaughan, Vol. 2

Here is the second installment of a three-volume survey of the recordings Sarah Vaughan made before joining the Columbia label in 1949. Almost all of these transfers are taken from the original 78s. The three volumes encompass 56 recordings; this iteration has 21.

The items in this and the third volume were all made for the small Musicraft label. Today's selections cover April 1946 to October 1947.

This is one of my "From the Back Room" posts, featuring recordings that I've been working on  for some time, but haven't yet published for one reason or another.

For these posts, the transfers, etc., are prepared with the usual care, but my commentary may be less extended (i.e., gabby) than usual.

With Georgie Auld and Tadd Dameron

The earliest session in this volume yielded just one vocal - "A Hundred Years from Today," the Victor Young-Ned Washington song. It elicits a sophisticated performance from Vaughan and Georgie Auld's excellent band, heard in an arrangement by a 20-year-old Al Cohn.

A few weeks later, Sarah had a recording date with a Tadd Dameron ensemble, with more well chosen songs: "If You Could See Me Now" by Dameron and Carl Sigman; "I Can [Could] Make You Love Me" by Bob Russell and Peter DeRose; "You're Not the Kind" by Will Hudson; and "My Kinda Love" by Louis Alter and Jo Trent. Dameron produced all the arrangements, which included strings. "If You Could See Me Now" is especially well done.

Sarah had previously recorded "I Could Make You Love Me" with John Kirby for Crown, which is in Vol. 1 of this collection.

In June, Vaughan was back in the studio with Auld for "You're Blasé" (by Bruce Sievier and Ord Hamilton) in another Cohn arrangement.

Four with George Treadwell

George Treadwell and Sarah Vaughan

Trumpeter George Treadwell, whom Vaughan would marry in a few months, was in charge of a July 1946 date that yielded four songs: "I've Got a Crush on You," "I'm Through with Love" (Fud Livingston, Matty Malneck, Gus Kahn), "Everything I Have Is Yours" (Burton Lane, Harold Adamson) and "Body and Soul" (Johnny Green, Edward Heyman).

"Everything I Have Is Yours" is a particularly confident interpretation, showing the vocal flexibility, even acrobatics that were among Vaughan's hallmarks. 

With Teddy Wilson

Teddy Wilson

The four songs made with Teddy Wilson in August and November 1946 are special, showing Vaughan in fully mature form. The pianist is always a pleasure to hear, of course.

From August: "Don't Worry 'bout Me" (Rube Bloom, Ted Koehler), "Penthouse Serenade" (Will Jason, Val Burton). From November: "Time after Time" (Sammy Cahn, July Styne) and "September Song" (Kurt Weill, Maxwell Anderson). The latter two could have used more Wilson and less Charlie Ventura.

With a George Treadwell Big Band

Vaughan's next date was in July 1947 with a large band assembled by George Treadwell. The songs are: "I Cover the Waterfront" (Johnny Green, Edward Heyman), "I Don't Stand a Ghost of a Chance" (Victor Young, Ned Washington), "Tenderly" (Walter Gross, Jack Lawrence) and "Don't Blame Me" (Dorothy Fields, Jimmy McHugh).

It's notable that the more conventional the backing, the more adventurous Vaughan became vocally. These arrangements are nothing special, but the singing is superb. "Ghost of a Chance," for example, starts with vocalese backed by Jimmy Jones' celesta.

With Ted Dale

Ted Dale

For the rest of her stay with Musicraft, Vaughan made most of her recordings with Ted Dale, who would soon become a music director with NBC.

Their first recordings together were a departure from the bop anthems and standards that had previously been Sarah's fare in the studio. First was the Albert Hay Malotte setting of "The Lord's Prayer," backed by the spiritual "Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child" in Harry Burleigh's arrangement. 

The next song they recorded was not initially released; it later came out on LP: "I Can't Get Started" (Vernon Duke and Ira Gershwin). The final piece recorded in this October 1947 session was Alec Wilder's "Trouble Is a Man," which Peggy Lee had recorded a year before, although it went unreleased at the time. Vaughan's version was one of the first to actually reach the market.

LINK