Etta Jones • Don't Go to Strangers

 

Review
by Steve Leggett
Don't Go to Strangers was Etta Jones' first album for the independent jazz label Prestige when it was released in 1960 (having been recorded in a single session on June 21 of that year), and although Jones had been releasing records since 1944, including a dozen sides for RCA in 1946 and an album for King Records in 1957, she was treated as an overnight sensation when the title tune from the album went gold, hitting the Top 40 on the pop charts and reaching number five on the R&B charts. An elegant ballad on an album that had several of them, including the masterful "If I Had You" and a marvelous reading of "All the Way," a song usually identified with Frank Sinatra, "Don't Go to Strangers" featured Jones' airy, bluesy phrasing and uncanny sense of spacing, and was very much a jazz performance, making its success on the pop charts all the more amazing. Listen to Jones' restructuring of the melody to the opening track, the old chestnut "Yes Sir, That's My Baby," to hear a gifted jazz singer sliding and shifting the tone center of a song like a veteran horn player, all the while leaving the melody still recognizable, but refreshing it until it stands revealed anew. Apparently there were no additional tracks cut at the session, since bonus material has never surfaced on any of the album's subsequent reissues, although that's hardly a problem, because as is, Don't Go to Strangers is a perfect gem of a recording.
https://www.allmusic.com/album/dont-go-to-strangers-mw0000674697

///////

Reseña
por Steve Leggett
Don't Go to Strangers fue el primer álbum de Etta Jones para el sello independiente de jazz Prestige cuando se publicó en 1960 (habiendo sido grabado en una única sesión el 21 de junio de ese año), y aunque Jones había estado publicando discos desde 1944, incluyendo una docena de caras para RCA en 1946 y un álbum para King Records en 1957, fue tratada como una sensación de la noche a la mañana cuando la melodía que da título al álbum se convirtió en oro, alcanzando el Top 40 en las listas de pop y llegando al número cinco en las listas de R&B. "Don't Go to Strangers", una elegante balada en un álbum que contaba con varias de ellas, como la magistral "If I Had You" y una maravillosa lectura de "All the Way", una canción que suele identificarse con Frank Sinatra, presentaba el fraseo airoso y azulado de Jones y su asombroso sentido del espacio, y era en gran medida una interpretación de jazz, lo que hace que su éxito en las listas de éxitos pop sea aún más sorprendente. Escuche la reestructuración de Jones de la melodía de la pista de apertura, la vieja castaña "Yes Sir, That's My Baby", para escuchar a una talentosa cantante de jazz deslizándose y cambiando el centro de tono de una canción como un veterano trompetista, dejando la melodía todavía reconocible, pero refrescándola hasta que se revela de nuevo. Al parecer, no se grabaron pistas adicionales en la sesión, ya que el material extra nunca ha aparecido en ninguna de las reediciones posteriores del álbum, aunque eso no es un problema, porque tal como está, Don't Go to Strangers es una joya perfecta de grabación.
https://www.allmusic.com/album/dont-go-to-strangers-mw0000674697

Tracks:
1 - Yes, Sir That's My Baby   4:23
2 - Don't Go To Strangers   3:51
3 - I Love Paris   4:01
4 - Fine And Mellow   5:52
5 - Where Or When   3:41
6 - If I Had You   3:51
7 - On The Street Where You Live   3:45
8 - Something To Remember You By   3:45
9 - Bye Bye Blackbird   3:16
10 - All The Way   4:39


Credits:
    Bass – George Duvivier
    Drums – Roy Haynes
    Flute, Tenor Saxophone – Frank Wess
    Guitar – Skeeter Best
    Piano – Richard Wyands
    Vocals – Etta Jones

Recorded at Van Gelder studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, on June 21, 1960.
Recorded By, Remastered By – Rudy Van Gelder

Label:    Prestige – PRCD-30007-2
Series:    RVG Remasters
Genre:    Jazz, Pop
Style:    Vocal, Ballad
https://www.discogs.com/release/10230337-Etta-Jones-Dont-Go-To-Strangers

MORE Etta Jones ...

This file is intended only for preview!
I ask you to delete the file from your hard drive or device after reading it.
thank for the original uploader