Search - Jimmy Rushing :: Anthology 1937 & 1955

He's calling to you

Matthew Watters | Vietnam | 07/07/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Gush, gush. What is it about fat guys that makes great singers? David Thomas is my favourite 'rock' singer, and one singer that Thomas sounds rather startlingly like, Willie Dixon, was no slouch, either. But, from Big Joe Turner to Meat Loaf, the history of modern music is littered with big guys who could move you. And then there's Jimmy Rushing, who I just can't get enough of lately. Mr Five-by-Five sorta creeped up on me in his vocal features for Basie, but suddenly I started listening to the Rushing features for their own sake ... and now I can't stop. People say Rushing was a blues shouter, but I beg to differ. He's a fine jazz singer coming out of a blues tradition, just like Billie Holiday. Like Lady Day, he could handle Gershwin with equal aplomb and great drama, humour, diction and swing. And that sound: it's like he's coming across the night, with a clarion tone somewhere between a trumpet and a trombone, but with a reedy quality, too. It's hard to explain, but when you hear it, it'll transport you to someplace more joyous."