Dinah Washingon Roulette Mosaic

[Brad]

Mosaic has now listed this on their site for mid November. I have her mid 50s EmArcy work which is prime but had been lead to believe or read on this Board that late 50s and thereafter is not so hot. The Roulette material dates from 1962 on so what's the view here?

DINAH WASHINGTON. THE LAST CHAPTER OF A GREAT PERFORMER”S STORY INCLUDES A NEWLY-DISCOVERED SURPRISE.

If your goal is to broaden your collection of the truly distinctive voices in music, you have got to own Dinah Washington. And if you want to understand what the composers meant -- REALLY meant – when they wrote songs you think you know, you have got to own this collection – The Complete Roulette Dinah Washington Sessions.

This music, from the final stage of Dinah Washington’s short and turbulent life, is a perfect snapshot of all she was in performance – the brash belter, claiming and proclaiming her measure of fun and gaiety; the spurned lover, earnestly searching for one more chance, or determinedly wiping the slate clean of all romance; the wry commentator, knowingly chronicling the world’s troubles as only she could observe them; and the optimistic dreamer, surrendering to the beauties of life.

Eight tracks appear for the first time ever, including one astonishing medley of songs, informally presented with just piano and flute accompaniment, that lasts more than 20 minutes – probably the closest thing on record to what it was like to hear her perform after hours.

The World Takes Notice

Born August 29, 1924 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama as Ruth Jones, Dinah was raised in Chicago, which may account for her lifelong love of the blues. While still a kid, she was already winning talent contests and working the clubs, both as singer and pianist, when a friend took her to the Downbeat Room to hear Billie Holiday. But this isn’t the story of a young singer falling under another singer’s spell. This story is about a young singer meeting the club owner and getting him to audition her for his joint next door. Dinah got the gig.

A few months later, Lionel Hampton hired her for his band. But Dinah wanted more than the two or three features a night she got on the big band circuit. She wanted stardom. After less than three years with Hampton, she left the band. Within weeks, she was in the studio, on her way to earning her billing as the “Queen of the Blues.”

A Special Style

The truth is, regardless of the musical context, Dinah made every song she sang her own. She had her own no-nonsense phrasing that tamed every melody and put the lyrics under her spell. Her habit of enunciating every syllable and consonant made you sit up and take notice of the message, sometimes for the first time. And her choice of material was always eye-opening. Standards, R&B struts, pop numbers, show tunes, saloon songs, country music, the blues – as long as there was a story, she could sell it.

For many years she was associated with Mercury and EmArcy, achieving success first as an R&B performer, then in jazz, an ultimately as a pop performer, scoring her biggest hit in 1959 with “What a Difference a Day Makes.” But in 1962, Morris Levy who has owner of Birdland had befriended Dinah wooed her to his record label Roulette.

From the start, her records were hits. Fred Norman and Don Costa handled most of the arrangements and they ranged from swinging big bands to expanisive string sections. Numbers range from the sly, knowing “Drinking Again” to the painful lament, “Lord, You Made Us Human.” She crashes all known boundaries on familiar tunes such as “Something’s Gotta Give,” “That Old Feeling,” “Do Nothing ‘Til You Hear From Me,” and “These Foolish Things.” And creates her own statement with “Make Someone Happy,” and “Call Me Irresponsible.”

Coming when these recordings did, after a lifetime on the road, there is particular poignancy to such songs as “A Stanger on Earth” and “Nobody Knows The Way I Feel This Morning.” And you could say she was finally uniquely qualified to sing a love-gone-wrong song, after seven marriages and many romances in between.

An Important Discovery

It’s likely that many people who buy this package will turn immediately to the medley that finishes the disc one. It has never appeared anywhere. On this after-session gem, she moves casually through eight songs – “Ill Wind,” “For All We Know,” “I Could Have Told You So,” and others. Contemporaries report Dinah hated to end the evening. Frequently after a gig, she’d hit the town with her piano player, looking for a club where she could sit down and relax, and where she knew she’d inevitably be asked to offer a song or two. This medley is no doubt the type of treat those club goers enjoyed. Stripped of all opulence, her performance shines for its technical mastery, her trademark phrasing, and her delight in singing to an audience hanging on every word.

Her recordings on Roulette display all of the power and intelligence of her earliest successes with an undisputable maturity that is the sign of a remarkable singer joining the ranks of the greats.

“The Complete Roulette Dinah Washington Sessions” appears on five CDs. An exclusive essay on her life and music, including a track-by-track analysis of the material, is by Dinah’s biographer, Nadine Cohodas. The Mosaic booklet also contains a discography of the material and all known details of the recording sessions, and there are many rare photographs from the actual sessions by Chuck Stewart.

[JSngry]

The little Roulette material that I've heard has taken the most commercial Mercury sides as its starting point and gone from there. But I've heard very little of it.

Besides, it's Dinah, and if anybody could polish a turd into a diamond, it was her.

[Ed S]

I just checked out the AMG info on her and it's not too complimentary towards this material. I realize the limitations of AMG, but anyone familiar with the quality of this stuff?

[pryan]

Mosaic's marketing strategy of late, at least for this set and the Herman Columbia set, has kind of annoyed me. It's all well and good to have a convincing write-up for the set, but it's another thing to write stuff like "you have to own this" or this is your new "must have set". Mosaic is a classy company, I enjoy their sets greatly and will continue to boast about their excellence (in both customer service and product), but these sales pitches have reached an excessive peak, for me at least (although I guess they're just doing it to increase sales).

[Dan Gould]

Maybe the hyperbole is in direct relationship to the fact that these albums are known to have been originally aimed at the pop side of things? In other words, Michael knows this one is a tougher sell, so he's pushing it a bit harder.

[RDK]

Well, Michael knows from Marketing 101 that it's best not to push these as "The nadir of her career - for completists only!"

Seriously, though, it's Dinah - and largely unknown Dinah. How "not great" could it possibly be? Like it or not, this is the stuff that Mosaic was made for...

[pryan]

Never thought of it that way. Maybe you are right, Dan. Although I'm not sure why Dinah or Woody Herman would be a tougher sell than say, Jack Teagarden or even Art Farmer/Benny Golson. Are you insinuating that Mosaic's core customers are more inclined toward non-vocal/hard-bop/swing (ie. fairly straight-ahead jazz)? IMHO, non-hardcore types are more likely to gravitate toward the so-called pop sets (Four Freshmen, Bobby Hackett, etc.), rather than say more obscure sets such as Grachan Moncur III or Tina Brooks, to name just two. I guess Mosaic is looking for a more "balanced" catalog in order to entice a wider segment of the music-buying public. Nothing wrong with that approach. I think the "Select" series is wonderful; it allows the hardcore fan to obtain hard-to-find stuff at a very reasonable price. Dexter select kicks ass, BTW.

[Dan Gould]

Are you insinuating that Mosaic's core customers are more inclined toward non-vocal/hard-bop/swing (ie. fairly straight-ahead jazz)?

Well, if I'm not mistaken, the Four Freshman and this set are the first Mosaics for vocalists, aren't they?

Myself, I wouldn't at all mind a Joe Williams Roulette Mosaic. There's some good stuff in there, aside from the two sets that came out on the Williams/Sweets reissue a few years back.

[pryan]

Are you insinuating that Mosaic's core customers are more inclined toward non-vocal/hard-bop/swing (ie. fairly straight-ahead jazz)?

Well, if I'm not mistaken, the Four Freshman and this set are the first Mosaics for vocalists, aren't they?

There is also a Sarah Vaughan set.

[P.D.]

Peggy Lee / June Christy... Mildred Bailey... ?

[jazzbo]

Louis Armstrong, Jack Teagarden, Wingy Manone, Woody Herman, and . . . .

Oh, I know that's not quite fair, but. . . .These folk were VOCALISTS too, and damned fine ones!

[JSngry]

Just listened to one side of DINAH '62, the only album of this material I actually own, and it's...

not what it should be.

Not BAD, but not really good either. Standards, big band, strings, vocal chorus, organ, all in varying proportions at various times. It "swings", but not really. Dinah sounds almost like an imitation of herself. A good imitation, mind you, but still...

Don't know that I'd go too far out of my way to jump on this one if it's all like this. And I AM a fan.

[Dan Gould]

OOPS, my bad!

[jazzbo]

I'm with Jim on this one too. I LOVE Dinah. . . but I can't say I reach for any of the Roulettes I have.

Don't reach for the Sarah Vaugh Roulette material either. . . .

[JSngry]

Didn't kow that any of this stuff was already out on CD, but it is: http://www.bluenote.com/artistpage.asp?ArtistID=3298

Anybody heard this one?:

Quoth AMG:

Prior to her 1959 hit "What a Difference a Day Makes," nearly every Dinah Washington recording (no matter what the style) was of interest to jazz listeners. However, after her unexpected success on the pop charts, most of Washington's sessions for Mercury and Roulette during the last four years of her life were quite commercial, with string arrangements better suited to country singers and Dinah nearly parodying herself with exaggerated gestures. Fortunately, this 1997 CD reissue brings back an exception, a blues-oriented collection that features Washington returning to her roots, backed by a jazz-oriented big band (although with occasional strings and background voices); in addition to the original program, there are previously unreleased versions of "No One Man" and "Me and My Gin." Eddie Chamblee and Illinois Jacquet have some tenor solos, guitarist Billy Butler is heard from and the trumpet soloist is probably Joe Newman. In general, this is a more successful date than Dinah Washington's earlier investigation of Bessie Smith material, since the backup band is more sympathetic and the talented singer is heard in prime form. Dinah Washington clearly had a real feeling for this bluesy material.

"Dinah Washington clearly had a real feeling for this bluesy material." Well DUH!!! But still, how is it, anybody know?

[neveronfriday]

I could stilll kick myself (endlessly!) for not getting myself those Complete Dinah Washington on Mercury disk sets when they were still readily available. They go at outrageous prices now already (well, many of them, if they are available at all) and it is the one single collection I would readily kill for if that was necessary. Damn.

It was actually the later material that drew me towards her. Typically me, I picked up Dinah '62 (Cuscuna/Addey) rather late in life. I didn't hear the quite cheesy strings on "Drinking Again", I just heard that voice. Wow. Blew me away. I was hooked from the start and have been fascinated by that voice ever since. On that same disk are "Destination Moon" (yep, I'll go along), "Is You Is Or Is You Ain't By Baby" (with doo-wops and all but, man, that voice is just killin'), which practically demanded my yelling "I is!", and also some clunkers ... but when she starts singing my defenses go down. Hell, the last song is a must if you love that Gin as much as I do, and it makes you forgive Cuscuna and the boys (yeah, not their fault, but stilll ..) for providing such an uninformative booklet.

I could go on about Verve's wonderful Elite Edition of The Best in Blues and the wonderful "Drummer Man" (2 glorious takes) plus all the other tunes which just kick butt.

There were other disks I sniffed out and bought but it soon became apparent that like with so many other great musicians and vocalists, the companies were satisfied with putting out mediocre collection after mediocre collection, again and again, with the same material, yeah, you guessed it, again. Frustrating.

Yes, I came late to Dinah, but she became my favourite singer. Now I just need to sell part of my collection to finance the Mercury disks (Damn! ) and the soon available Mosaic set. Ignore the pop side, the strings, the stupid "wordless backup singers so prevalent in 50s and 60s recordings" and listen to that VOICE. I did and THAT is why you should invest your hard-earned cash in the Mosaic box.

Nothing else (besides the receipt, of course, which should be stored beneath ... you know how it works )

Cheers!

Edited November 2, 2004 by deus62

[RDK]

Ah, Dinah's voice. I've long thought that her version of "I could Write a Book" is just what Heaven sounds like.

I need those Mercury discs as well.

[jazzbo]

I've got all the Mercury discs. . . I really love most of the material. . . sometimes however I can't get past the cheeze and wiz to get to the VOICE. . . . I do a lot of selective listening to the later sets.

[trane123]

Are you insinuating that Mosaic's core customers are more inclined toward non-vocal/hard-bop/swing (ie. fairly straight-ahead jazz)?

Well, if I'm not mistaken, the Four Freshman and this set are the first Mosaics for vocalists, aren't they?

Myself, I wouldn't at all mind a Joe Williams Roulette Mosaic. There's some good stuff in there, aside from the two sets that came out on the Williams/Sweets reissue a few years back.

Not to pile on or anything but don't forget the Anita O'Day set. One of my personal favorites.

[DrJ]

I would like to see a Lee Wiley Mosaic myself - I know there's some on the Condon Mob box and I'm looking forward to that, but a comprehensive collection of her Songbooks and maybe some other early stuff in better than previously available sound would be amazing.

[jazzbo]

David Baldwin's series of Lee Wiley recordings on his Devil's Music label, now in its fourth volume, fills that bill in all ways but notes: the sound is excellent, trouncing all other issues, and there is a dizzying completeness. Here's hoping that series continues

[David Ayers]

Mosaic's marketing strategy of late, at least for this set and the Herman Columbia set, has kind of annoyed me.  It's all well and good to have a convincing write-up for the set, but it's another thing to write stuff like "you have to own this" or this is your new "must have set". 

Have I missed something? I thought this Herman material was regarded as pretty essential. Can you or somebody remind me why I am supposed not to like it? I can be a bit slow on the uptake sometimes...

[pryan]

I said nothing about the quality of the music on the Herman Columbia set, I only commented on how it was being advertised. The "likeability" of the music is not in question. However, from reading the comments here, it sounds as though the Dinah set is far from "essential".

[David Ayers]

I said nothing about the quality of the music on the Herman Columbia set, I only commented on how it was being advertised. The "likeability" of the music is not in question. However, from reading the comments here, it sounds as though the Dinah set is far from "essential".

Fair enough. For a moment there I thought there had been a massive backlash against Woody and that I had missed it. That said, his vocals seem to have received some negative comment...

[Brad]

Yup, it doesn't sound like I'll be picking this one up. If you have Dinah Jams (which is just great) or Queen: The Music of Dinah Washington that Verve put out earlier this year, you're probably covered.

In addition to the obvious EmArcy work, there's a cd called Mellow Mama issued by Delmark that's worth picking up.