Track list:

Disc 1:

01. The Third World
02. The Third World (alt tk)
03. Step Tempest
04. Dance Line
05. Blue Chopsticks
06. Double Exposure (alt tk)
07. Double Exposure
08. Cro-Magnon Nights
09. Cro-Magnon Nights (alt tk)
10. It Didn’t Happen (alt tk)
11. Amoeba’s Dance
12. Brass Rings (alt tk)
13. Brass Rings
14. 2300 Skiddoo (alt tk)
15. 2300 Skiddoo

Disc 2:

01. Shuffle Montgomery (alt tk)
02. It Didn’t Happen
03. Crisp Day
04. Shuffle Montgomery
05. The Gig
06. Applejackin’ (alt tk)
07. Hangover Triangle
08. The Lady Sings The Blues
09. Chit Chattin’
10. House Party Starting
11. The Gig (alt tk)
12. Furthermore (alt tk#1)
13. Furthermore
14. 117th Street (alt tk)
15. 117th Street
16. Sunday Stroll

Disc 3:

01. Nick At T’s
02. Furthermore (alt tk#2)
03. Terpischore
04. ‘orse At Safari
05. Applejackin’ (alt tk)
06. Applejackin’
07. Wildflower
08. Mine (alt tk)
09. Mine
10. Trio
11. Trio (alt tk)
12. The Spinning Song (alt tk)
13. The Spinning Song
14. Riff Primitif
15. Riff Primitif (alt tk)
16. Query (alt tk)
17. Query

Personnel:

Herbie Nichols – piano;
Al McKibbon – bass (#1-1 to 3-6);
Teddy Kotick – bass (#3-7 to 3-17);
Art Blakey – drums(#1-1 to 2-4);
Max Roach – drums (#2-5 to 3-17)

Recorded: Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, New Jersey between May 6, 1955 and April 19, 1956
Label: Blue Note

Original Sessions Producer: Alfred Lion
Recording Engineer – Rudy Van Gelder

Liner Notes: Herbie Nichols

Photography: Francis Wolff

This Compilation:
Released: 1997
Label: Blue Note
CDP 8 59352 2

Producer (1997): Michael Cuscuna

Liner Notes: Herbie Nichols, Michael Cuscuna
Booklet research and edited by: Roswell Rudd

This compilations adds to the 1975 issue “The Third World” [Blue Note BN-LA485-H2]
Side A: The Third World / Step Tempest / Blue Chopsticks / Blue Chopsticks / Double Exposure / Cro-Magnon Nights |
Side B: Amoeba’s Dance / Crisp Day / 2300 Skiddoo / It Did’t Happen / Shuffle Montgomery / Brass Rings |
Side C: The Gig / House Party Starting / Chit Chattin’ / The Lady Sings The Blues / Terpsichore |
Side D: Spinning Song / Query / Wildflower / Hangover Triangle / Mine |

*****

While this innovative pianist-composer shares a fascination for disjunctive harmonies, complex rhythmic interplay, and oblique vocalized melodies with his better-known contemporary, Thelonious Monk, Herbie Nichols’s more elongated gait and linear propulsion suggest 20th-century classicism and the polyphony of New Orleans, much as Monk’s more jagged phrasing seems to extend on devices originated by icons of the Harlem stride school and the bent-note inflections of rural blues guitarists.

These Blue Note sides represent the complete output of five visionary sessions Nichols recorded for producer Alfred Lion in 1955-1956, and reflect the pianist’s profoundly drumlike aesthetic in which melodies derive directly from complex root syncopations.

Nichols’s ability to orchestrate percussive passages on the fly inspires a thrilling level of contrapuntal interplay from drummers Art Blakey and Max Roach that serves to transform his intricate song-forms into edgy, propulsive drum concertos.

More significantly, Nichols eschews empty riffing in favor of a deconstructionist approach in which thematic ideas are recast in a spacious, loping, orchestral style that make medium strolls like “Lady Sings the Blues” and minor gallops such as “Riff Primitiff” so darkly romantic and hypnotically swinging, as if Nichols could keep extending and elongating his azure melodic elisions for eternity.
~Chip Stern

*****

Discography (as leader):

1955 Herbie Nichols: The Prophetic Herbie Nichols Vol. 1 [Blue Note BLP 5068]
Herbie Nichols (piano), Al McKibbon (bass), Art Blakey (drums)
The Third World / Step Tempest / Dance Line / Blue Chopsticks / Double Exposure / Cro-Magnon Nights |

1955 Herbie Nichols: The Prophetic Herbie Nichols Vol. 2 [Blue Note BLP 5069]
Herbie Nichols (piano), Al McKibbon (bass), Art Blakey (drums)
Amoeba’s Dance / Crisp Day / 2300 Skiddoo / It Did’t Happen / Shuffle Montgomery / Brass Rings |

1956 Herbie Nichols Trio: Herbie Nichols Trio [Blue Note BLP 1519]
Herbie Nichols (piano), Al McKibbon (bass), Teddy Kotick* (bass), Max Roach (drums)
The Gig / House Party Starting / Chit-Chatting / The Lady Sings The Blues / Terpsichore / Spinning Song* / Query* / Wildflower* / Hangover Triangle / Mine* |

1957 Herbie Nichols Trio: Love, Gloom, Cash, Love [Bethlehem BCP-81]
Herbie Nichols (piano), George Duvivier (bass), Dannie Richmond (drums)
Too Close for Comfort / Every Cloud / Argumentative / Love, Gloom, Cash, Love / Portrait of Ucha / Beyond Recall / All the Way / 45 Degree Angle / Infatuation Eyes / S’crazy Pad |

subtitled: Capitol Sings Cole Porter

Track list:

01. All of You -Annie Ross (w/ Gerry Mulligan)
02. Always True to You in My Fashion -Peggy Lee (w/ George Shearing)
03. Anything Goes -Tony Bennett (w/ Count Basie)
04. Begin the Beguine -Gordon MacRae
05. Blow, Gabriel, Blow -Martha Tilton
06. Ev’ry Time We Say Goodbye -June Christy (w/ Stan Kenton)
07. From Now On -Peggy Lee
08. I Get a Kick out of You -Chris Conner (w/Stan Kenton)
09. I Happen to Like New York -Judy Garland
10. In the Still of the Night -Helen O’Connell
11. It’s All Right with Me -Dinah Shore (w/ The Red Norvo Quintet)
12. I’ve Got You Under My Skin -Louis Prima & Keely Smith
13. Just One of Those Things -Nat King Cole
14. Looking at You -Liza Minnelli
15. Miss Otis Regrets -Francis Faye
16. So in Love -John Raitt
17. True Love -Dean Martin (w/ Nelson Riddle)
18. What Is This Thing Called Love? -Keely Smith (w/ Nelson Riddle)
19. Why Shouldn’t I? -Margaret Whiting
20. Wunderbar -Jo Stafford & Gordon McRae
21. You’d Be So Nice to Come Home To -Nancy Wilson
22. You’re the Top -Jean Turner (w/ Stan Kenton)
23. Let’s Do It (Let’s Fall in Love) -Trudy Richards (w/ Billy May)
24. Get out of Town -Jerri Southern (w/ Billy May)
25. You Do Something to Me -The Andrews Sisters (w/ Billy May)

This Compilation:
Re-mastered at Capitol Recording Studios, Hollywood, CA.
Released: 1992
Label: Capitol
CDP 7 96361 2

Compiled by: Wayne Watkins
Consultation: Pete Welding

Re-mastered by: Kevin Reeves

Illustration: Robert Risko
Art Direction: Tommy Steele
Design: Murphy And Company

Co-ordinator: Kim Niemi
*****

As far as all-star Cole Porter compilations go, Capitol Sings Cole Porter: Anything Goes is recommended as an entertaining sampler of 25 titles performed by some of the label’s biggest stars. These include, on the hip end of the spectrum, Nat King Cole, Nancy Wilson, Frances Faye, Jo Stafford, and Annie Ross, a disarming vocalist who collaborates warmly with baritone saxophonist Gerry Mulligan.

Peggy Lee is heard with George Shearing, Keely Smith with Louis Prima, Dinah Shore with Red Norvo, Tony Bennett with Count Basie and Chris Connor, and June Christy with Stan Kenton. Pop singers heard on this collection include Judy Garland, Liza Minnelli, Margaret Whiting, Dean Martin, Gordon MacRae, and the Andrews Sisters.

This mini-survey of great moments in mid-20th century pop culture is suitable for casual listening (and optional singalong) while cleaning house, preparing food, shampooing the cat, or operating heavy machinery during rush hour.
~arwulf arwulf[allmusic.com]

*****

Track list:

01. Come Fly With Me
02. I’ve Got a Crush on You
03. I’ve Got You Under My Skin
04. The Shadow of Your Smile
05. Street of Dreams
06. One for My Baby [And One More for the Road]
07. Fly Me to the Moon [In Other Words]
08. One O’Clock Jump [instrumental]
09. The Tea Break [Monologue]
10. You Make Me Feel So Young
11. All of Me [instrumental]
12. The September of My Years
13. Luck Be a Lady
14. Get Me to the Church on Time
15. It Was a Very Good Year
16. Don’t Worry ‘Bout Me
17. Makin’ Whoopee [instrumental]
18. Where or When
19. Angel Eyes
20. My Kind of Town
21. A Few Last Words [Monologue]
22. My Kind of Town (Reprise)

Personnel:

Frank Sinatra – vocals;
Countbasie – piano;
Bill Miller – piano;
The Count Basie Orchestra:
Quincy Jones: arranger, conductor
trumpets: Harry “Sweets” Edison, Al Aarons, Sonny Cohn, Wallace Davenport, Phil Guilbeau;
trombones: Al Grey, Henderson Chambers, Grover Mitchell, Bill Hughes;
alto sax: Marshall Royal, Bobby Plater;
tenor sax: Eric Dixon, Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis;
baritone sax: Charlie Fowlkes;
guitar – Freddie Green;
double bass – Norman Keenan;
drums – Sonny Payne

Recorded: live at the Copa Room of the Sands Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas; January and February, 1966
Released: July 1966
Label: Reprise
2FS 1019

#13 [Luck Be a Lady]: bonus track only available on the re-mastered 1998 CD and 2003 DVD-Audio releases.

Producer: Sonny Burke
Engineer: Lowell Frank

Liner Notes: Stan Cornyn

Cover photography: John Bryson
Art direction: Ed Thrasher

Re-issue Producer: Gregg Geller
Released: October 15, 1986
Label: Reprise
CDW 46947

46947 [re-issue 1998]

An alternate version of the same show with a slightly different track list was released in November 2006 as part of the box set Sinatra: Vegas.

*****

In many ways, Sinatra at the Sands is the definitive portrait of Frank Sinatra in the ’60s.

Recorded in April of 1966, At the Sands is the first commercially released live Frank Sinatra album, recorded at a relaxed Las Vegas club show.

For these dates at the Sands, Sinatra worked with Count Basie and his orchestra, which was conducted by Quincy Jones.

Like any of his concerts, the material was fairly predictable, with his standard show numbers punctuated by some nice surprises.

Throughout the show, Sinatra is in fine voice, turning in a particularly affecting version of “Angel Eyes.”

He is also in fine humor, constantly joking with the audience and the band, as well as delivering an entertaining, if rambling, monologue halfway through the album.

Some of the humor has dated poorly, appearing insensitive, but that sentiment cannot be applied to the music.

Basie and the orchestra are swinging and dynamic, inspiring a textured, dramatic, and thoroughly enjoyable performance from Sinatra.
~Stephen Thomas Erlewine[allmusic.com]

*****

Track list:

01. You make me feel so young
02. It happened in Monterrey
03. You’re getting to be a habit with me
04. You Brought a new kind of love to me
05. Too marvelous for words
06. Old devil moon
07. Pennies from heaven
08. Love is here to stay
09. I’ve got you under my skin
10. I thought about you
11. We’ll be together again
12. Makin ‘whoopee
13. Swingin ‘down the lane
14. Anything goes
15. How about you?

Personnel:

Frank Sinatra – vocals
Nelson Riddle Orchestra
Nelson Riddle – arranger, conductor

Recorded:
#8: October 17, 1955.
#1,4,10: January 9, 1956.
#3,7,15: January 10, 1956.
#2,9,13: January 12, 1956.
#5,6,11,12,14: January 16, 1956.

Released: March, 1956
Label: Capitol
W-653
CDP 546570 [1987]

Producer: Voyle Gilmore

Liner Notes: Pete Welding 

*****

After the ballad-heavy In the Wee Small Hours, Frank Sinatra and Nelson Riddle returned to up-tempo, swing material with Songs for Swingin’ Lovers!, arguably the vocalist’s greatest swing set.

Like Sinatra’s previous Capitol albums, Songs for Swingin’ Lovers! consists of reinterpreted pop standards, ranging from the ten-year-old “You Make Me Feel So Young” to the 20-year-old “Pennies From Heaven” and “I’ve Got You Under My Skin.”

Sinatra is supremely confident throughout the album, singing with authority and joy.

That joy is replicated in Riddle’s arrangements, which manage to rethink these standards in fresh yet reverent ways.

Working with a core rhythm section and a full string orchestra, Riddle writes scores that are surprisingly subtle.

“I’ve Got You Under My Skin,” with its breathtaking middle section, is a perfect example of how Sinatra works with the band.

Both swing hard, stretching out the rhythms and melodies but never losing sight of the original song.

Songs for Swingin’ Lovers! never loses momentum.

The great songs keep coming and the performances are all stellar, resulting in one of Sinatra’s true classics.
~Stephen Thomas Erlewine[allmusic.com]

*****

Track list:

01. Soulville
02. Late Date
03. Time on My Hands
04. Lover Come Back to Me
05. Where Are You
06. Makin’ Whoopee
07. Ill Wind
+bonus track (* not on original LP)
08. Who [*]
09. Boogie-Woogie [*]
10. Roses of Picardy [*]

Personnel:

Ben Webster – tenor sax, piano (#8-10);
Oscar Peterson – piano (#1-7);
Herb Ellis – guitar;
Ray Brown – bass;
Stan Levey – drums

Recorded: Capitol Studios, Hollywood, CA; October 15, 1957
#1-07 original LP issue: Soulville Verve MGV-8274
#8-10 original CD issue: Soulville Verve 833 551-2
This CD: Verve 521 449-2 [2002]

Original recordings produced by: Norman Granz
Original LP cover photography: Phil Stern
Original Liner Notes: Nat Hentoff

Re-issue (2002) Producer: Bryan Koniarz
Mastered by: Suha Gur

Liner notes (2002): Barry Alfonso
Art direction: Hollis King
Design: Edward O’Dowd

Track list:

volume 1:
01. Announcement (Pee Wee Marquette)
02. Split Kick
03. Once In A While
04. Quicksilver
05. A Night In Tunisia
06. Mayreh
+bonus tracks (not on original 12″ LP)
07. Wee-Dot (alt tk)
08. Blues

volume 2:
01. Wee Dot
02. If I Had You
03. Quicksilver (alt master)
04. Now’s the Time
05. Confirmation
+bonus tracks (not on original 12″ LP)
06. The Way You Look Tonight
07. Lou’s Blues

Personnel:

Clifford Brown – trumpet;
Lou Donaldson – alto sax;
Horace Silver – piano;
Curly Russell – bass;
Art Blakey – drums
+
Pee Wee Marquette – announcer

Recorded: at Birdland, New York City; February 21, 1954
Released: 1954
volume 1: Blue Note 5 32146 [RVG edition 2001]
volume 1: #1-6 original 12″ LP [Blue Note BLP 1521]
volume 1: #1-4 originally issued on 10″ LP 5037
volume 1: #5,6 originally issued on 10″ LP 5038
volume 1: all titles have been previously issued on CD 46519 using the 12″ LP cover art
volume 1: cover art from the original Blue Note 10″ LP

volume 2: Blue Note 5 32147 [RVG edition 2001]
volume 2: #1-5 original 12″ LP [Blue Note BLP 1522]
volume 2: #1 originally issued on 10″ LP 5038
volume 2: #2,4,5 originally issued on 10″ LP 5039
volume 2: all titles have been previously issued on CD 46520
volume 2: cover art from the original Blue Note 10″ LP

Producer: Alfred Lion
Recording Engineer: Rudy van Gelder

Cover photography: Francis Wolff

Re-mastered in 2001 by Rudy van Gelder

Re-issue producer: Michael Cuscuna

Liner notes (2001): Bob Blumenthal

Cover design: John Hermansader

subtitled: Original Music From The Score

Track list:

01. Alfie’s Theme
02. He’s Younger Than You Are
03. Street Runner with Child
04. Transition Theme For Minor Blues or Little Malcom Loves His Dad
05. On Impulse
06. Alfie’s Theme Differently

Personnel:

Sonny Rollins – tenor sax;
J.J. Johnson – trombone (#1,2);
Jimmy Cleveland – trombone (#3-6);
Phil Woods – alto sax;
Bob Ashton – tenor sax;
Danny Bank – baritone sax;
Roger Kellaway – piano;
Kenny Burrell – guitar;
Walter Booker – bass;
Frankie Dunlop – drums;
Oliver Nelson – arranger, conductor

Recorded: Rudy van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey; January 26, 1966
Released: 1966
Label: Impulse!
AS-9111

Producer: Rob Theile
Recording Engineer: Rudy van Gelder
Liner notes: Nat Hentoff
Liner photo of Sonny Rollins: Charles Stewart

*****

Alfie is a 1966 album by jazz saxophonist Sonny Rollins of music from the film of the same name.

The original British film soundtrack featured Rollins with local musicians, including pianist Stan Tracey, who are not heard on this album.

In the UK the album was originally released with the title Sonny Plays Alfie on the HMV label before being re-packaged & re-issued in 1972 under the Alfie title on the jazz-based Impulse! label.
~wikipedia[May, 2013]

*****

Sonny Rollins compositions for the film Alfie (which benefited greatly from Oliver Nelson’s arrangements) are heard on this CD as played by Rollins and a ten-piece band.

The music easily stands by itself without the movie and Rollins is in fine form on these generally memorable themes, particularly “On Impulse” and “Alfie’s Theme.”

This superlative effort was most recently reissued on an Impulse CD in 1997.
~Scott Yanow[allmusic.com]

*****

subtitled: Music from the Film Score Composed and Conducted by Henry Mancini

Traack list:

01. The Pink Panther theme
02. It had better be tonight (instrumental)
03. Royal blue
04. Champagne and quail
05. The village inn
06. The Tiber twist
07. It had better be tonight [Meglio Stasera] (vocal)
08. Cortina
09. The lonely princess
10. Something for Sellers
11. Piano and strings
12. Shades of Sennett

Personnel:

Henry Mancini and His Orchestra
Plas Johnson – tenor saxophone solo (#1)
Chorus – vocals (#7)

Recorded: RCA’s Music Center of the World, Hollywood, CA; September 16-18, 1963
Released: 1963
Label: RCA Victor
LSP-2795

RCA
ND80832 [CD re-mastered 1989]

Producer: Joe Reisman
Recording Engineeer: Jim Malloy

Liner Notes: Peter Sellers (alias: Inspector Clouseau)

Digitally mastered in January 1989 at RCA Recording Studio, New York

*****

Meglio Stasera (known in English as It Had Better Be Tonight) is a 1963 song with music by Henry Mancini, Italian lyrics by Franco Migliacci and English lyrics by Johnny Mercer.

It was composed for the 1963 film The Pink Panther where it was performed by Fran Jeffries.

In addition to the vocal performance, instrumental portions of the song appear in the film’s underscore, sometimes as an introduction to the main “Pink Panther Theme”.
[...]

The beginning of the song, in the original Italian, is here followed by a literal translation and the first two lines of the English version which contains an Italian expression, “Fa’ subito!”, which translates as “do it right away”, but which does not appear in the Italian lyrics.

However, all the versions carry the same underlying meaning of “Let’s make love tonight, because who knows what will happen tomorrow.”

Italian:
Meglio stasera, che domani o mai,
Domani chi lo sa, quel che sarà?

Literal translation:
Better tonight, than tomorrow or never,
Tomorrow who knows, what will be?

English version:
Meglio stasera, baby, go-go-go,
Or as we natives say, “Fa’ subito!”

~wikipedia[May,2013]
*****

Track list:

01. Minor Mishap
02. How Long Has This Been Going On?
03. Eclypso
04. Solacium
05. Tommy’s Tune

Personnel:

Tommy Flanagan – piano
John Coltrane – tenor sax
Idrees Sulieman – trumpet
Kenny Burrell – guitar
Doug Watkins – bass
Louis Hayes – drums

Recorded: Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, New Jersey; April 18, 1957
Released: 1959
Label: New Jazz
NJ-8217

Original Jazz Classics
OJC-079 [re-issue 1983]

Producer: Bob Weinstock
Recording Engineer: Rudy van Gelder

Liner Notes: Ira Gitler

1959 album was issued after Coltrane had ceased recording for the New Jazz label.
Also issued in 1976 as sides ‘C’ and ‘D’ on double-LP “Kenny Burrell/John Coltrane” [Prestige P-24059]

*****

In 1957, the greatest year for recorded music including modern jazz, Detroit was a hot spot, a centerpiece to many hometown heroes as well as short-term residents like John Coltrane and Miles Davis.

It was here that Trane connected with pianist Tommy Flanagan, subsequently headed for the East Coast, and recorded this seminal hard bop album.

In tow were fellow Detroiters — drummer Louis Hayes, bassist Doug Watkins, and guitarist Kenny Burrell, with the fine trumpeter from modern big bands Idrees Sulieman as the sixth wheel.

From the opening number, the classic “Minor Mishap,” you realize something special is happening. Flanagan is energized, playing bright and joyous melody lines, comping and soloing like the blossoming artist he was.

Coltrane is effervescent and inspired, hot off the presses from the Miles Davis Quintet and searching for more expressionism.

The other hard bop originals, “Eclypso” and “Solacium,” easily burn with a cool flame not readily associated with East Coast jazz.

Flanagan himself is the catalyst more than the horns — dig his soaring, animated solo on “Eclypso” as he quotes “Jeepers Creepers.”

The near 12-minute blues “Tommy’s Tune” is the perfect vehicle for Burrell, a prelude for his classics of the same period “All Day Long” and “All Night Long.”

The lone trio session, on the standard “How Long Has This Been Going On?,” is regarded as quintessential Flanagan, and quite indicative of the Midwestern Motor City flavor Flanagan and his many peers brought into the mainstream jazz of the day and beyond.

One yearns for alternate takes of this session. T

he Cats is a prelude to much more music from all of these masters that would come within a very short time period thereafter, and cannot come more highly recommended.

It’s a must-buy for the ages.
~Michael G. Nastos[allmusic.com]

*****

Track list:

01. The St. Louis blues
02. Junkers blues
03. Kiss of fire
04. Vicksburg blues
05. The weed smoker’s dream
06. Wild Honey
07. Send me to the ‘lectric chair
08. Evenin’
09. Didn’t it rain
10. Careless love
11. One for my baby
12. I hate a man like you
13. Changes
bonus tracks
14. Unchain My Heart
15. Yeh Yeh (live)

Limited Edition Book pack (Disc 2:)
01. Day & Night
02. Junco Partner
03. Louisiana Blues
04. Staggerlee
05. Unchain My Heart

Personnel:

Hugh Laurie – piano, Wurlitzer, acoustic guitar, vocals, judge’s gavel, whistle;
Copper Bottom Band:
Jay Bellerose – drums, percussion, aromatic tobaccos;
Kevin Breit – acoustic/electric/lap-steel guitars, mandolin, mandola, mandocello, optimism, tenor banjo, backing vocals;
Vincent Henry – soprano/tenor/baritone saxes, clarinet, bass clarinet, harmonica, vocals and, you know, music;
Greg Leisz – mandolin, mandola, lap-steel, Weissenborn, Dobro, acoustic/electric guitars;
Robby Marshall – alto/tenor saxes, clarinet, bass clarinet, hats;
Jean McClain – lead vocals (#7,12);
David Piltch – world view, upright/electric basses;
Patrick Warren – accordion, Hammond B3, pump organ, and a whole bunch of keys;
with:
Larry Goldings – Hammond B3;
Elizabeth Lea – trombone, trombone and trombone;
featuring:
Taj Mahal – lead vocals (#4);
Gaby Moreno – lead vocals (#3,5,9), backing vocals;

Recorded: Ocean Way Studio, Los Angeles; January 7-12 and 28-30, 2013
Released: May 6, 2013
Label: Warner Brothers (UK)

Producer: Joe Henry
Recorded and Mixed by: Ryan Freeland
Studio assistance: Wesley M. Seidman
Production assistance: Julian Cubillos

Mastered by: Gavin Lerssen

Executive Producer: Conrad Withey

Notes: Hugh Laurie, Joe Henry

Cover photography: Mary McCartney
Studio photography: Michael Wilson
Art direction and design: Anabel Sinn

*****

After the huge success of his debut album Let Them Talk on which he celebrated and revived classic material from the world of NOLA blues, Hugh Laurie release his second album Didn’t It Rain on May 6th on Warner Music Entertainment.

‘Didn’t It Rain’ sees Hugh Laurie depart the sounds of New Orleans as he follows the trajectory of the blues upstream and into the American heartland.

It includes songs dating back to early pioneers W.C. Handy (‘St Louis. Blues’) and Jelly Roll Morton (‘I Hate A Man Like You’) to more recent artists such as Dr. John (‘Wild Honey’) and Alan Price of The Animals (‘Changes’).

Again produced by Joe Henry, ‘Didn’t It Rain’ was recorded at Ocean Way Studio in Los Angeles in January of this year.

Complemented with the heart and accomplishment of his supporting musicians the Copper Bottom Band – Jay Bellerose, Kevin Breit, Vincent Henry, Greg Leisz, Robby Marshall, David Piltch and Patrick Warren with Elizabeth Lea and Larry Goldings – the album also features several lead vocal performances from Guatemalan singer-songwriter Gaby Moreno and soul singer Jean McClain who has previously worked with artists as varied as Jimmy Cliff and Sheryl Crow.

The album also highlights a very special guest in the shape of the Grammy-winning blues artist Taj Mahal who contributes vocals to a new take on Little Brother Montgomery’s ‘Vicksburg Blues’.

*****