Sarha Vaughn At The Blue Note

S'Wonderful

Sarah Vaughan At The Blue Note
Orchestra Conducted by Hugo Peretti
Mercury Records MG 20094
1956

From the back cover: In a sense, Sarah Vaughan and the Blue Note grew up together. In the early days, late 1947 and 1948, the Blue Note was another saloon in Chicago's Loop. It's only distinction seemed to be that it was run by a thoroughly inexperienced saloon keeper who seemed to be off his rocker: of all things, he was going to try to keep his place open while offering nothing by jazz music. It just wasn't done. In fact, in recent days in Chicago, it just hadn't been done. Worse than that, as though jazz itself were not far enough off the beaten track, Holzfeind astounded the pundits of the business when he announced, before his place was many weeks old, that he was going to give star status for two weeks to a kid nobody ever heard of, name of Sarah Vaughan. That is, nobody except the handful who dug her at a South Side spot called the Rhumboogie. "You'll lose your shirt at home," Holzfeind wisecracked nervously. "In a year, this girl will help me pay my rent – or if I'm wrong, I'll be broke and I won't have to pay any more rent. So what can I lose?"

The first engagement was not the most startling business success that ever stormed the Windy City. But the few customers who heard Sarah Vaughan herald a whole new era of daringly creative singing, why they just flipped. Dave Garroway was there every night until 11:50 p.m., just in time to make it to NBC studios at midnight where he dreamed up smooth phrases he never even knew he had to describe this former choir girl from Newark. Business kept getting a little better, so that by the end of her two-week engagement, the bartender had to read Down Beat on his own time.

From Billboard - June 9, 1956: This LP spots the "commercial" Sarah Vaughan, with backings like she never uses at the Blue Note - lush strings, etc. It's more for her pop fans than for the jazz clique, featuring such items as her erstwhile smash, "Make Yourself Comfortable," "Paradise" and re-creations of her early successes, "Tenderly" and "It's Magic." The tune selection and those handsome vocals sounds will move this with deejays and dealers, and the striking cover won't hurt either.

The Touch Of Your Lips
S'Wonderful
It's Magic
Honey
Let's Put Out The Lights
I'm In The Mood For Love
I Don't Know Why
Paradise
Time On My Hands
Gimme A Little Kiss
Make Yourself Comfortable