EMI/Capitol controls
Julie London's entire back catalog, but has only reissued a couple of the vocalist's original albums in the U.S. Thankfully, the label has finally provided listeners with a stellar CD reissue of About the Blues on its Blue Note
jazz subsidiary.
London wasn't really a
jazz singer, but she possessed a definite
jazz feeling and many of her finest albums (such as Julie Is Her Name and Julie...At Home) feature small-group
jazz backings. About the Blues was aimed at the 1950s
pop market, but it may just be her best
orchestral session. Since downbeat
torch songs were
London's specialty, the album features an excellent selection of nocturnal but classy
blues songs that play to her subtle strengths instead of against them. Likewise,
Russ Garcia's clever arrangements bleed
jazz touches and short solos over the solitary strings and big-band charts. Like
June Christy,
London usually included a couple of new songs in with a selection of
standards, and her husband,
Bobby Troup, wrote two excellent numbers for the album. One of them, the emotionally devastating "Meaning of the Blues," is the album's highlight, and was turned into a
jazz standard after
Miles Davis recorded it the same year for Miles Ahead. Blue Note has done a fine job remastering the album, and has added three previously unreleased tracks and the single version of "Meaning of the Blues" to this reissue. All of the songs are of such a high quality that it's surprising they didn't make the final album, until you realize that they're the only ones that don't feature the word "blues" in the title. ~ Nick Dedina, All Music Guide
