| Black Coffee | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1956 12" LP | |||
| Recorded | April 30, May 1 & 4, 1953; April 3, 1956 | |||
| Studio | New York City | |||
| Genre | Jazz | |||
| Length | 34:52 | |||
| Label | Decca American | |||
| Peggy Lee chronology | ||||
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Black Coffee is the first album by Peggy Lee. It was released in the 10-inch format in 1953 by Decca. In 1956, at the request of the record label, Lee recorded four more songs for a reissue of the album in the 12-inch LP format.
By 1953, Lee had been recording professionally since joining the Benny Goodman Orchestra in 1941, but had only released songs on 78s or 45s. This was her first opportunity to record an album. In the early 1950s, record companies usually reserved the 12-in LP for classical music, and in the case of Decca and Columbia, cast recordings of Broadway musicals. This practice ended after this LP was recorded. Ten-inch records were discontinued generally by the mid-1950s. Lee added four songs at sessions in 1956 to expand the running time to the 12-in LP.
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
Neither the 10 nor the 12-in release made the Popular Album Chart, the chart expanding to a listing of 10 to 30 LPs on average during 1956. Joni Mitchell declared the album one of her favorites, [2] leading off her torch song album of 2000, Both Sides Now , with a selection from Black Coffee, "You're My Thrill". In his book Jazz Singing, Will Friedwald names the album one of his desert island discs. [3]
Three sessions in 1953 yielded eight tracks for the 10-in LP at Decca Studios on West 57th Street in New York City on April 30, May 1, and May 4. The 1956 sessions to record the additional four tracks the 12-in LP were at Decca studios in Hollywood on April 3 with different personnel.
On October 26, 2004, the album was reissued as part of the Verve Master Edition series. Verve and Decca are owned by Universal. The track sequence followed the 1956 12-in reissue. No producer is listed. Milt Gabler is mentioned in the reissue credits as artists and repertoire representative for Decca.
Norma Deloris Engstrom, known professionally as Peggy Lee, was an American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, composer, and actress, over a career spanning seven decades. From her beginning as a vocalist on local radio to singing with Benny Goodman's big band, Lee created a sophisticated persona, writing music for films, acting, and recording conceptual record albums combining poetry and music. Called the "Queen of American pop music," Lee recorded over 1,100 masters and composed over 270 songs.
William Ballard Doggett was an American pianist and organist. He began his career playing swing music before transitioning into rhythm and blues. Best known for his instrumental compositions "Honky Tonk" and "Hippy Dippy", Doggett was a pioneer of rock and roll. He worked with the Ink Spots, Johnny Otis, Wynonie Harris, Ella Fitzgerald, and Louis Jordan.
Gordon Hill Jenkins was an American arranger, composer, and pianist who was influential in popular music in the 1940s and 1950s. Jenkins worked with The Andrews Sisters, Johnny Cash, The Weavers, Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong, Judy Garland, Nat King Cole, Billie Holiday, Harry Nilsson, Peggy Lee and Ella Fitzgerald.
A cast recording is a recording of a stage musical that is intended to document the songs as they were performed in the show and experienced by the audience. An original cast recording or OCR, as the name implies, features the voices of the show's original cast. A cast recording featuring the first cast to perform a musical in a particular venue is known, for example, as an "original Broadway cast recording" (OBCR) or an "original London cast recording" (OLCR).
Ella Sings Broadway is a 1963 studio album by the American jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald, with an orchestra arranged and conducted by Frank DeVol. Shortly before the sessions for Ella Sings Broadway, Ella had recorded two singles with Marty Paich, the Antonio Carlos Jobim song 'Desafinado' and a Bossa Nova version of the jazz standard 'Stardust'. This prompted many Ella Fitzgerald fans and scholars to conclude that these sessions were also led by Paich. However, the original scores and parts exist in Ella Fitzgerald's library and it was determined that all the music was arranged by Frank DeVol. In fact, DeVol had previously worked with Ella Fitzgerald having written arrangements for Hello Love (1957), Get Happy (1957), Live Someone in Love (1957), Ella Sings Sweet Songs For Swingers (1958), and Ella Wishes You A Swinging Christmas (1960).
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Ella and Duke at the Cote D'Azur is a 1967 live album by Ella Fitzgerald, accompanied by the big band of Duke Ellington.
Ella at Juan-les-Pins is a 1964 live album by Ella Fitzgerald, accompanied by a quartet led by Roy Eldridge on trumpet with the pianist Tommy Flanagan, Gus Johnson on drums and Bill Yancey on bass. Val Valentin was the recording engineer, cover photo by Jean-Pierre Leloir. The original 1964 album featured 12 songs, highlights of two concerts Fitzgerald performed on the 28 and 29 of July 1964 at the fifth annual Festival Mondial du Jazz Antibes in Juan-les-Pins, France. In 2002 Verve re-issued this album, including all the performances from both evenings. Ella is in fine voice, sounding very aggressive at times, as her voice leaps and growls. The listener also gets to hear Ella improvise a musical tribute to the crickets who are also in fine voice throughout the performance.
Between 1935 and 1955, American singer Ella Fitzgerald was signed to Decca Records. Her early recordings as a featured vocalist were frequently uncredited. Her first credited single was 78 RPM recording "I'll Chase the Blues Away" with the Chick Webb Orchestra. Fitzgerald continued recording with Webb until his death in 1939, after which the group was renamed Ella Fitzgerald and Her Famous Orchestra. With the introduction of 10" and 12" Long-Playing records in the late 1940s, Decca released several original albums of Fitzgerald's music and reissued many of her previous single-only releases. From 1935 to the late 1940s Decca issued Ella Fitzgerald's recordings on 78rpm singles and album collections, in book form, of four singles that included eight tracks. These recordings have been re-issued on a series of 15 compact disc by the French record label Classics Records between 1992 and 2008.
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"Somebody Loves Me" is a popular song, with music written by George Gershwin, and lyrics by Ballard MacDonald and Buddy DeSylva. The song was published in 1924 and featured in George White's Scandals of 1924.
Penthouse Serenade is an instrumental jazz quartet album by Nat King Cole. It was released initially as a 10-inch LP in September, 1952, on Capitol Records. An expanded version was reissued in 1955 and a 19 track version was reissued in 1998.
Charlie Parker with Strings is the name of two separate albums by jazz musician Charlie Parker, released in 1950 on Mercury Records. It is also the name of a 1995 compilation album released by Verve Records, containing all the tracks from both the 1950 albums, as well as additional material. The sessions place Parker in the context of a small classical string section and a jazz rhythm section, rather than his standard bebop quintet. They were Parker's most popular sellers during his lifetime, and were admitted to the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1988.
All or Nothing at All is a studio album by Billie Holiday, released in 1958 on Verve Records, catalog MGV8329. There are 12 songs on the LP taken from five different recording sessions that took place in 1956 and 1957. Holiday was backed by a "relaxed and understanding" small combo which included the trumpeter Harry "Sweets" Edison and the saxophonist Ben Webster. A 1959 New York Times article noted that Holiday's voice "had become a very limited instrument which she used with the craft and guile of an aging pitcher who can no longer pour his fast one across the plate."
Bud Powell's Moods is a studio album by jazz pianist Bud Powell, released in 1956 by Norgran, featuring sessions that Powell recorded in 1954 and 1955.
Sarah Vaughan in Hi-Fi is a 12 track compilation album by Sarah Vaughan released in 1955 and recorded from December 21, 1949 to December 1952.
This article presents the discography of the jazz singer, songwriter, and composer Peggy Lee, covering her recording career from 1941 up to 1993.
Oscar Peterson Plays George Gershwin is a 1952 album by pianist Oscar Peterson of popular songs written by George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin.
This is the discography for American jazz drummer Shelly Manne.
