Rosemary Clooney and Duke Ellington - Blue Rose 1956

Rosemary Clooney and Duke Ellington - Blue Rose 1956
Label: Columbia/Legacy
Original Release Date: June 15, 1999
Recorded at CBS 30th Street Studios, New York on January 23 & 27, 1956
And CBS Studios, Los Angeles, California on February 8 & 11, 1956

Jazz

"Blue Rose" is one of those albums that I'd never even heard of and if it were not given to me as a Christmas gift this year, I would have been missing a great pleasure. The fascinating album notes explain why and how separate tracks for Rosemary Clooney and Duke Ellington's orchestra had to be laid down. One would never realize that singer and orchestra were not together. They are totally in sync. This is not big, belting jazz; this is sophisticated, late nite, intimate singing and playing. Clooney is at her best in songs like "Hey Baby" and in an arrangement of "It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Aint Got That Swing)" which is mellow, cool and sweet, rather than fast and loud and hot. Her version of "Sophisticated Lady" is one of the best and "rightest" I've ever come across. There are even two songs on this album which I've never heard before and both are outstanding: "Passion Flower" which has no vocal but does have an extraordinary sax solo line (Johnny Hodges??) and "Blue Rose" which Ellington wrote for Rosie, but which has no lyrics. It is quite beautiful and reminds me of some of Ellington's scoring for "Anatomy of a Murder." For a 1956 recording, not done digitally, the sound is first-rate.
By  MOVIE MAVEN.
**
Simply one of the most stunning and breathtaking jazz vocal albums ever. Rosie is in top form here and as much as a jazz singer as Ella, Sarah or anyone else she's been compared to. Highly recommended.
**
One of the great crimes in the annals of the music business was Columbia producer Mitch Miller's insistence that his star singer Rosemary Clooney record ...    Full Descriptionpop dreck like "Mambo Italiano" and "This Ole House" when he had her under his thumb in the early '50s. Well, Ms. Clooney survived these and other indignities to record one of the classiest vocal albums of the '50s, a collaboration with Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn called BLUE ROSE. Duke Ellington is not particularly known for his vocalists, though his band featured several fine ones over the years, including the underrated Ivy Anderson and Al Hibbler.

Not only is BLUE ROSE Rosemary Clooney's best album, it is also a great Duke Ellington record. Clooney reprises many of the songs Ivy Anderson introduced, like the famous "I Got it Bad (And That Ain't Good)" and obscure gems like "Me and You" and "I'm Checkin' Out, Goombye." But it is her heartfelt interpretations of the classics "Sophisticated Lady" and "Mood Indigo" that restore new-found meaning to lyrics and melodies long taken for granted. A bonus is a superbly recorded band-only take on Strayhorn's "Passion Flower," featuring a sublime Johnny Hodges.
This 1999 reissue contains two bonus tracks.
From CD Universe.
**
Rosemary Clooney- (Vocals);
Duke Ellington, Billy Strayhorn- (Arranger, Piano);
Russell Procope- (Alto Sax, Clarinet);
Johnny Hodges- (Alto Sax);
Jimmy Hamilton, Paul Gonzalves- (Tenor Sax);
Harry Carney- (Baritone Sax, Bass Clarinet);
Cat Anderson, Willie Cook, Ray Nance, Clark Terry- (Trumpet);
Jimmy Woode- (Bass);
Sam Woodyard- (Drums).
**
01. Hey Baby 3:54
02. Sophisticated Lady 3:00
03. Me and You 2:31
04. Passion Flower 4:36
05. I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart 2:40
06. It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing) 2:51
07. Grievin' 4:13
08. Blue Rose 2:24
09. I'm Checkin' Out (Goombye Bye) 3:12
10. I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good) 3:10
11. Mood Indigo 6:30
12. If You Were in My Place (What Would You Do?) 3:04
13. Just A-Sittin' and A-Rockin' 2:43
**
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