But
Beautiful (2 Lps On 1 Cd) + Bonus Tracks
Lucy Ann
Polk
Featuring: Lucy Ann Polk (vcl), with Don
Fagerquist (tp), Ray Sims, Dick Noel (tb), Dave Pell, Ronny Lang (saxes), Marty
Paich, Claude Williamson (p), Tony Rizzi, Howard Roberts (g), Buddy Clark,
Ralph Peña (b), Mel Lewis, Jack Sperling (d), Shorty Rogers (arr)
REFERENCE: FSRCD 708
Includes 20-page booklet with session
details, rare photos, memorabilia and extensive liner notes.
Having gained considerable experience as the top singer with some of the
biggest name bands in the country, Lucy Ann Polk (1927-2011) decided to quit
the road after four successful years with the Les Brown band. Voted Best Girl
Band Vocalist in Down Beat magazine’s Readers Poll for four years in a row
(1951-1954), she settled in her Los Angeles home, with her husband, trombonist
Dick Noel. From then on she worked on casual singing TV and radio engagements,
and appeared in several live performances mainly with the Dave Pell Octet.
She had acquired a mature style of her own, much admired by both public and
musicians. Her voice was not the penetrating instrument of other leading
vocalists, but she was a warm and swinging singer. As these sides make
abundantly clear, she found her own freedom, away from the constraints of the
band setting, in singing backed by small groups like Pell’s octet or Marty
Paich’s sextet and quartet. An independent soul, she was a lovely and talented
singer, tellingly described by Les Brown’s trumpeter and arranger Wes Hensel as
“one of the grooviest people who ever walked this earth.”
Tracklisting:
01. Sitting in the Sun
(Levey-Webb-Witmark) 2:48
02. How About You (Lane Freed) 1:42
03. I’m Just a Lucky So and So
(David-Ellington) 3:50
04. Squeeze Me (Williams-Waller) 2:48
05. When the Sun Comes Out
(Koehler-Arlen) 3:03
06. Makin’ Whoopee (Donaldson-Kahn) 2:50
07. Don Cha Go Way Mad (Mundy-Stillman) 2:25
08. Just A-Sittin’ and A-Rockin’
(Strayhorn-Ellington) 3:21
09. Memphis in June (Webster-Carmichael) 2:37
10. Time After Time (Styne-Kahn) 2:15
11. Easy Living (Robin-Rainger) 3:17
12. Looking at You (Cole Porter) 2:37
13. But Beautiful (Burke-Van Heusen) 2:15
14. Swinging on a Star (Burke-Van Heusen) 2:33
15. It’s Always You (Burke-Van Heusen) 2:27
16. Aren’t You Glad You’re You
(Burke-Van Heusen) 2:08
17. It Could Happen to You
(Burke-Van Heusen) 2:17
18. Darn That Dream (Burke-Van Heusen) 2:45
19. Imagination (Burke-Van Heusen) 2:40
20. Polka Dots and Moonbeams
(Burke-Van Heusen) 2:25
21. Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams
(Barris-Koehler-Moll) 2:13
22. Memphis in June (Webster-Carmichael) 2:55
Total time: 59:02 min.
Original sources:
Tracks #1-12, from the Mode album
"Lucky Lucy Ann" (MOD LP #115)
Tracks #13-20, from the Trend 10" album
"Lucy Ann Polk, with Dave Pell Octet" (TL 1008)
Tracks #21-22, are bonus tracks
Personnel:
Lucy Ann Polk, vocals, accompanied by:
Tracks #1-12, THE MARTY PAICH SEXTET:
Dick Noel (tb), Bob Hardaway (ts), Marty Paich (p, arr), Tony Rizzi (g), Buddy
Clark (b), Mel Lewis (d).
Recorded at Radio Recorders, Hollywood, July 12, 1957.
Tracks #13-20, THE DAVE PELL OCTET:
Don Fagerquist (tp), Ray Sims (tb), Dave Pell (ts, Engh), Ronny Lang (fl, as,
bs), Claude Williamson (p), Tony Rizzi (g), Rolly Bundock (b), Jack Sperling
(d). Arrangements: Shorty Rogers (#13,14,17 & 19) and Wes Hensel (#15,16,18
& 20).
Recorded at Radio Recorders, Hollywood, December, 18 & 28, 1953.
Tracks #21-22, THE MARTY PAICH QUARTET:
Marty Paich (p), Howard Roberts (g), Ralph Peña (b), Frank de Vito (d).
Recorded at ABC Studios, “Stars of Jazz” TV-show, Hollywood, August 6, 1956.
Original recordings produced by Red Clyde (#1-12), Albert Marx (#13-20), and
Jimmie Baker (#21 & 22).
Sound Engineers: Dayton “Bones” Howe (#1-12); Val Valentin (#13-20); Chuck
Lewis (#21 & 22).
This CD compilation produced by Jordi Pujol.
24-Bit Digitally Remastered
------------------------------------------------------
Notes:
-Lucky Lucy Ann
"Lucy Ann Polk's lone Mode session pairs the singer with a sextet led by
pianist and arranger Marty Paich, whose nuanced, spacious orchestrations
perfectly complement Polk's sultry yet supremely controlled style. The strength
of Lucky Lucy Ann is its subtlety -- not a note is wasted or extraneous, and
for all the modernist elements converging in Paich's arrangements, he never
obscures the clarity of perennials like "Makin' Whoopee" and
"Time After Time." Polk likewise shades the universal themes of the
lyrics with a style and fierce intelligence all her own -- for all the power of
her voice, it's her restraint that rings loudest and clearest."
-Jason Ankeny (All Music Guide)