Search - Dinah Washington :: Sings Bessie Smith

Great blues album!

Sasha | at sea...sailing somewhere | 11/22/1999

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Great Dinah Washington recored this album in 1957. and while her voice (and personality!) was perfectly suited to material, her musicians somehow made music little bit too ironic.Eddie Chamblee who was a bandleader (and Mr.Washington nr.five!) probably decided to use instruments not as in original versions, but in some sort of mocking them, making some of the songs sounding like in burlesque, vaudeville theater.There are even some snare-rim drumms, which Bessie Smith NEVER used and which made this album hard to take seriously.Its a proof of Dinah Washington's genius that this tribute still have ageless beauty in spite of mocking music background.I love this CD more with every listening. (And her vesrion of "After you've gone" is better than original!) check the similar CD from LaVern Baker!"

Dinah Washington sounds at home and wonderful...

aaron | rANCHO SANTA MARGARITA, CA | 11/13/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Dinah Washington's tribute to Bessie Smith is just one of the many great jazz oriented LP's she cut for EmArcy in the 50's(others being"Dinah Jams" "Sings Fats Waller" "In The Land Of Hi-Fi"and "For those In Love" which are all in print on CD & worth owning). This session includes jazz trumpet player Clark Terry, and amny other jazz players, they all try to recreste the 20's sound(But Dinah modernizes it and makes it all sound fresh and sometimes swingin'. Highlight include "Sent Me To The 'Lectric Chair" and "Butter Blues" Highly recommeded to jazz collectors and casual fans alike."

Not flattering to either Dinah or Bessie.

Lady June | 10/10/2005

(1 out of 5 stars)

"Dinah Washington and Bessie Smith are 2 of my very 3 favorite singers of all time since a youth. I was greatly excited when I heard about Miss D's tribute to Bessie. No one else really had the right to go there. I was immediately and completely disallusioned by this CD. I kept playing it over and over again to see if it would grow on me. Instead,I became increasingly annoyed! My major contentions with this recording are the totally absurd arrangements and tasteless,tacky musical backgrounds. Dinah sounds unusually hoarse and uninspired. That it could have been a masterpiece is revealed in 3 live recorded performances that Dinah made, with some of the very same musicians, at a Newport Jazz Festival in 1958, where her soulful,anticlimatic version of "Backwater Blues" is even more compelling than Bessie Smith's definitive version of the song. NOW if you REALLY want to hear a more authentic tribute to la Smith, I zealousy recommend "LaVerne Baker Sings Bessie Smith." It will completely blow your mind and is a hair raising religious type experience. The choice of song materials is also more highly selective. Clare Austin,Ronnie Gilbert,and Carrie Smith also made very wonderful musical tributes to Miss Smith,as well."