Name: Sings Bessie Smith
Brand: WAXTIME RECORDS
SKU: 178165366
Availability: OutOfStock

Performer Notes

Personnel includes: Dinah Washington (vocals); Eddie Chamblee (arranger, tenor saxophone); Charles Davis, McKinley Easton (baritone saxophone); Fortunatus Ricard, Clark Terry (trumpet); Quentin Jackson, Julian Priester (trombone); James Craig, Jack Wilson (piano); Robare Edmonson, Robert Lee Wilson (bass); James Slaughter (drums).
The Newport All Stars: Harold Ousley (tenor saxophone); Sahib Shihab (baritone saxophone); Blue Mitchell (trumpet); Melba Liston (trombone); Wynton Kelly (piano); Paul West (bass); Max Roach (drums).
Recorded at Universal Studios, Chicago, Illinois on December 30, 1957 and January 7 & 20, 1958 and live at the Newport Jazz Festival, Newport, Rhode Island on July 6, 1958. Originally released on Emarcy (36130). Includes liner notes by Linda Dahl.
All tracks have been digitally remastered.
This is part of the Verve Records Master Edition series.
Dinah Washington's late-1950s recordings of some of Bessie Smith's best-known songs are both a tribute to the artistry of the Empress of the Blues and an acknowledgement of Washington's kinship to her illustrious predecessor through her own hardscrabble roots and tempestuous lifestyle. Accompanied by a band led by her then-husband, Eddie Chamblee, the singer rips her way through a set that features such Smith classics as "Me and My Gin," "Send Me to the 'Lectric Chair," and "After You've Gone," as well as several live tracks recorded at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival.