Love Songs

Performer: Sarah Vaughan
Artist: Miles Davis
Producer: Richard Seidel (Compilation)
Distributor: Sony Music Distribution (

Notes: Personnel: Sarah Vaughan (vocals); George Van Eps, Art Ryerson, Al Caiola, Mundell Lowe (guitar); Verlye Mills (harp); Frederick Buldrini, George Ockner, Julius Schachter, Samuel Carmell, Adam Pratz, David Asch, Eugene Orloff, Sylvan Shulman, Zelly Smirnoff, Howard Kay, E. Anthony Green, Raoul Poliakin (violin); Richard Dickler, Sidney Brecher, Frank Brieff, Isadore Zir (viola); F. Miller & J. Barry, Bernard Greenhouse, Maurice Brown (cello); Leo Kruczek, Solomon Deutsch, Felix Orlewitz, Ralph Hersh, Samuel Rand, Jack Zayde, George Ricci (strings); Tony Scott (clarinet); Russell Banzer, Al Freistadt, Bernard Kaufman, Jimmy Abato (woodwinds, saxophone); E. Ollie Brown (woodwinds); Paul Ricci, Harry Terrill, Henry Roos, Richard Bazner, Al Kloves, J. Odriche, Stanley Webb, Art Drelinger, George Kelly, Harry Lawson , Fred Stuice, R. Banzoc, Leonard Hartman, Nuncio Mondello, Herman Schertzer, Irving Horowitz, Don Lodice, William Versaci, Sid Cooper, Babe Russin, Wolfe Taninbaum, Harold Feldman (saxophone); Budd Johnson (tenor saxophone); Melvin "Red" Solomon, Rubin Zarchy, Frank Fletcher-Beach, Gordon Griffith, Ziggy Elman (trumpet); Allan W. Thompson, John d'Agostino, William J. Schafer, Bob Morrow, Larry Alpeter, Al Godlis, Jack Satterfield, Elmer Smithers, Muni Morrow, Bennie Green , Benny Green (trombone); Milton W. Raskin, Henry Rowland, Robert Kriss, Lou Stein, Stan Freeman (piano); Phil Krauss, William Coles, Norris Shawker, Terry Snyder (drums); Miles Davis, Taft Jordan, Billy Butterfield, Jimmy Maxwell (trumpet); Will Bradley (trombone); Jimmy Jones (piano); J.C. Heard, Nick Fatool (drums). Photographer: Michael Ochs. Arrangers: Joe Lipman; Paul Weston; Percy Faith; Tadd Dameron; Norman Leyden. Columbia's Sarah Vaughan entry in its Love Songs compilation series is a stellar collection of tracks recorded from 1949 to 1953 that rank among the best of her career. Included are such gorgeous ballads as "Come Rain or Come Shine," "East of the Sun (And West of the Moon)," and "It Might As Well Be Spring." Interestingly, vocalist Vaughan recorded many of these tracks with pianist Jimmy Jones' band, which included the young up-and-coming trumpeter Miles Davis. These are must-hear tracks for even casual listeners of Vaughan, and Love Songs is fantastic place for the novice to begin investigating her. ~ Matt Collar Sarah Vaughan's sultry, resonant, and technically agile vocals couldn't be more perfectly suited to romantic ballads. Consequently, this addition to Columbia's LOVE SONGS series is one of the best. During her tenure for the label in the late 1940s and early '50s, Vaughan's recordings featured lush orchestral accompaniment and a pop-oriented approach. This set is drawn primarily from that pool, with a program heavy on standards ("The Nearness of You" and "It Might as Well Be Spring"). Vaughan was only in her early 20s when she cut these sides, but her musicianship and command of phrasing are so masterful that they belie her age. Sprinkled among the string-rich crossover material are a few straight-ahead jazz numbers. The languid, winding "Goodnight My Love" and the yearning narrative "East of the Sun (And West of the Moon)," for example, were cut with a small combo that features a young Miles Davis on trumpet. These tracks truly shine, as the understated accompaniment allows the subtleties in Vaughan's melodic explorations to come soaring through. Her technical expertise is matched by the sensuality, longing, and romance that drips from her voice, so that her simmering lyrical intensity can, literally, make one weak in the knees.

Sarah Vaughan's name was synonymous with jazz singing for two generations. She probably ranks as a close second only to Ella Fitzgerald in terms of influence, vocal range, and sheer, consistent brilliance. Her knowledge of bebop, gained during her '40s stint with Billy Eckstine, enabled her to advance the harmonic side of her work beyond that of her contemporaries. Throughout the '50s, she produced a torrent of albums in either a popular vein for Mercury Records, or more jazz-oriented material for subsidiary label EmArcy.

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