Album Reviews

Annie Ross may be best know among the “boomer” generation for the lyrics she wrote for Wardell Gray’s “Twisted,” the tune Joni Mitchell memorably covered on Court and Spark.

Born in the UK in 1930 but raised in the United States, Ross’s career includes movies, theater and of course singing jazz solo and with the legendary vocal group Lambert, Hendricks and Ross.

Ross has had a “Zelig” like life and career (a work still in progress) that includes singing in “Our Gang Follies of 1938” (better known to TV viewers as “The Little Rascals”), appearing in the Billy Crystal/Danny DeVito film “Throw Mama From the Train,” “Superman III,” “Pump Up the Volume,” and many other feature films.

She’s best known though, as a bubbly be-bop jazz singer who’s been backed by, and otherwise associated with some of the biggest names in jazz, including on this smooth set, Gerry Mulligan, Chet Baker and Art Farmer. She’s worked with everyone from Max Roach, Clifford Brown, Lionel Hampton and so many others. Charlie Parker was godfather to her son fathered by drummer Kenny Clarke. This lady has lived!

This set contrasts Mulligan’s cool with Ross’s happy heat. Mulligan’s sax doesn’t accompany Ross as much as it turns the session into a series of duets between the two jazz singers. Mulligan’s charts leave plenty of space for instrumental breaks, giving both Chet Baker and Art Farmer (playing on various different sessions) room to shine.

Ross enunciates with unforced clarity and precision, exuding a classy, bubbly optimism in an airy, velvety voice capable of incredible microdynamic nuance. Mulligan bobs and weaves behind, circling and spiraling close to but never crossing Ross. Mulligan on baritone sounds a bit like Paul Desmond at his coolest, but on steroids.

This record is so “of a period” and so unlike music being made today, it forces you to consider how different the world is from the one that existed when this was originally released in 1959. By today’s “standards,” the vibe is almost self-consciously cool and maybe even a bit self-satisfied. It’s so damn optimistic and “chipper”—and it’s not because those were “simpler” times— after all, they were living through the A-bomb age and the Soviet threat. They just didn’t let it bother them.

The set of mostly familiar standards opens with “I Feel Pretty” from “West Side Story.” Chances are you’ll be struck by a certain familiarity with the vibe of the arrangement that will have you thinking you’ve heard it before. If you’re of a certain age, you probably have. Probably an entire generation of television show theme song writers copped this vibe in the early ‘60s.

The recording is really interesting. On some tunes, Ross’s voice hovers large-sized and three dimensional in the center, with the horns hard right bathed in their own reverb and the rhythm section hard left enveloped in its own atmosphere. It’s strictly old-school “stereo,” and the drums and bass are distant, but the overall presentation has a physicality that sells it completely. On other tracks the “stereo” is presented with far more sophistication and realism and not spread garishly.

Regardless of the soundstaging, the recording quality itself, particularly of Ross’s voice, has an unforced “non-recorded” quality about it that’s rarely heard in today’s over-processed world. Listen to her on the old chestnut “How About You?” The performance is literally brought back to life.

This record, (containing 4 additional tracks not on the original) is not for everyone but if you like cool jazz vocalizing, and what might be characterized today as “cabaret singing,” you’ll enjoy this great sounding mood changer.