The Legendary Alberta Hunter: '34 London Sessions

Performer: Alberta Hunter
Distributor: E1 Distribution (USA)

Notes: Personnel: Alberta Hunter (vocals); Noel "Chappie" D'Amato (guitar, alto saxophone); Stan Andrews (violin, alto saxophone); Dave Esher, Colly Eisner (violin); E.O. Pogson (flute, clarinet, alto saxophone); Allan Warner (clarinet, oboe, tenor saxophone); Jack Johnson, Harry McFarlane, Freddy Mann (trumpet); Eric Tann, Tony Thrope (trombone); Harry Rubens (piano); Tiny Stock (bass); Percy Hampton (drums). Recorded at the Dorchester Hotel, London, England from September to November, 1934. Includes liner notes by Chris Alberton. Personnel: Noel "Chappie" d'Amato (guitar, alto saxophone); Stan Andrews (violin, alto saxophone); Colly Eisner (violin); E.O. Pogson (flute, clarinet, alto saxophone); Allan Warner (clarinet, oboe, tenor saxophone); Freddy Mann, Harry MacFarlane, Jack Jackson (trumpet); Tony Thorpe, Eric Tann (trombone); Harry Rubens (piano); Percy Hampton (drums). Liner Note Author: Chris Albertson. Recording information: Dorchester Hotel (09/24/1934-11/02/1934). Photographer: Alberta Hunter. Unknown Contributor Role: Alberta Hunter. This handsome album is a bit of an oddity. Alberta Hunter, famous as a jazz-oriented blues singer in the 1920s, reinvented herself as a sophisticated stage singer in London. Her 11 recordings with Jack Jackson's society dance orchestra in 1934 are very straight, outside of jazz and somewhat dated today. Whether it be "Two Cigarettes in the Dark," "Miss Otis Regrets" or "Two Little Flies on a Lump of Sugar," Hunter interprets the romantic ballads like a cabaret singer. So, although this reissue was perfectly done (with extensive liner notes), there is little here to interest jazz listeners. ~ Scott Yanow

One of the earliest recorded blues acts, Hunter sang with a clarity of diction and tone that made her music accessible to white audiences. At the height of her popularity, she recorded with nearly all her great jazz contemporaries, among them Louis Armstrong, Fats Waller, and Fletcher Henderson. In the '30s Hunter branched out to Broadway. She ended her career in the '80s as a star of the New York cabaret scene.

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