Anthology 1943-1959: The Deluxe Edition [Digipak] (CD - 1986)

Personnel includes: Dinah Washington (vocals); Gene Porter (alto & tenor saxophones, clarinet); Jewel Grant (alto saxophone); Lucky Thompson (tenor saxophone); Karl George (trumpet); Milt Jackson, Lionel Hampton (vibraphone); Wilbert Baranco, Ernie Freeman (piano); Barney Kessel, Rene Hall (guitar); Charlie Mingus, Red Callender (bass); Lee Young, Earl Palmer (drums).

Includes liner notes by Athan Maroulis.

Personnel: Dinah Washington (vocals); Dinah Washington; Rene Hall, Billy Mackel (guitar); Gene Porter (clarinet, alto saxophone, baritone saxophone); Jewell L. Grant, Herb Geller, Gus Evans, George Dorsey (alto saxophone); Harold Land, Lucky Thompson (tenor saxophone); Charlie Fowlkes (baritone saxophone); Clark Terry, Karl George, Joe Morris , Lamar Wright, Maynard Ferguson, Snooky Young, Wendell Culley (trumpet); Fred Beckett, Vernon Porter, Andrew Penn, Sonny Craven, Allen Durham (trombone); Wilbert Baranco, Ernie Freeman Combo, Junior Mance, Milt Buckner (piano); Charles Mingus (bass instrument); Earl Palmer , Fred Radcliffe, Lee Young, Red Callender (drums); Barney Kessel (guitar); Lionel Hampton, Milt Jackson (vibraphone); Max Roach (drums).

Recording information: Los Angeles, CA (12/10/1945-08/??/1959); New York, NY (12/10/1945-08/??/1959).

Arranger: Belford Hendricks.

Like Nat King Cole, Dinah Washington went from being a great jazz vocalist to being a great traditional pop vocalist. Jazz snobs called her a sellout in the late '50s and early '60s, but jazz snobs be damned -- quality is quality. Spanning 16 years, Anthology 1943-1959: The Deluxe Edition focuses primarily on Washington's jazz side. The only traditional pop offering on this 62-minute CD is a lush, captivating 1959 arrangement of the Cole hit "Unforgettable"; otherwise, jazz prevails whether Washington is performing swing as a featured vocalist for Lionel Hampton's orchestra in 1943 and 1944 or taking a jazz blues approach on 12 solo recordings for Apollo Records in 1945. The Apollo material (which marked the beginning of Washington's solo career) is excellent, and her live performances with the Hampton band -- most or all of which were broadcast by the Armed Forces Radio Service (AFRS) during World War II -- are rewarding even though they fall short of essential. The only time Anthology moves into outright hard bop territory is on a passionate 1954 recording of "Lover Come Back to Me" that boasts an inspired solo by the distinctive trumpeter Clifford Brown (who was a major influence on Lee Morgan, Freddie Hubbard, Woody Shaw, Donald Byrd, and others). Anthology isn't really a best-of and wouldn't be the ideal place for a novice to get started, but Washington's more seasoned aficionados will find a lot to savor on this generally excellent CD. ~ Alex Henderson

If you own Delmark's 1992 CD Mellow Mama, you have most of the recordings on this 2001 release from Cleopatra's Stardust label. Anthology, like Mellow Mama, contains all 12 of the songs that Dinah Washington recorded for Apollo on December 10-13, 1945, including sassy jazz/blues gems like "My Voot Is Really Vout," "Mellow Mama Blues," "Wise Woman Blues," and "Rich Man's Blues" (which humorously echoes the thoughts of gold diggers past and present). In fact, the 12 songs (which employ bop heavyweights like vibist Milt Jackson, tenor saxman Lucky Thompson, and bassist Charles Mingus) are heard in the same order on Anthology as they are on Mellow Mama. But while Mellow Mama focuses on the December 1945 sessions exclusively, Anthology contains three bonus tracks: "Shoo Shoo Baby," "Lover, Come Back to Me," and "Unforgettable." Recorded during a Lionel Hampton session of 1943, "Shoo Shoo Baby" is quite similar to the Apollo material. But "Lover, Come Back to Me" is pure bop, and Washington's famous 1959 recording of "Unforgettable" (a major hit for Nat "King" Cole in the early '50s) is a rewarding example of her talents as a jazz-influenced pop singer. Myopic jazz snobs love to denounce Washington as a sell-out for exploring pre-rock/pop in the 1950s and early '60s, but the singer never claimed to be a jazz purist -- and anyone who dislikes "Unforgettable" simply because it isn't straight-ahead jazz is foolish and narrow-minded. From jazz/blues to hard bop to pop, Anthology paints a consistently attractive picture of the versatile Washington. ~ Alex Henderson

Rhino's Brook Benton Anthology is a 23-track collection that hits all of the high points, not only including songs from his tenure with Mercury -- "It's Just a Matter of Time," "So Many Ways," "Kiddio," "Baby (You've Got What It Takes)," "A Rockin' Good Way (To Mess Around and Fall in Love)," "The Boll Weevil Song," "Hotel Happiness" -- but also his later hits on Cotillion Records, including "Rainy Night in Georgia." It's the only collection that covers such a wide range of material -- the terrific 40 Greatest Hits only features his Mercury recordings, which admittedly are his best work -- and thereby gives a good overview of his entire career. However, Rhino never released Anthology on compact disc due to licensing reasons, and ten years after its 1986 release, there was no compilation encompassing Benton's entire career available on disc. Of course, since 40 Greatest Hits did its job so well, this turns out to be just a minor complaint, but Rhino's Anthology remains the only thoughtfully compiled retrospective of Benton's entire career. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Like Nat King Cole, Dinah Washington went from being a great jazz vocalist to being a great traditional pop vocalist. Jazz snobs called her a sellout in the late '50s and early '60s, but jazz snobs be damned -- quality is quality. Spanning 16 years, Anthology 1943-1959: The Deluxe Edition focuses primarily on Washington's jazz side. The only traditional pop offering on this 62-minute CD is a lush, captivating 1959 arrangement of the Cole hit "Unforgettable"; otherwise, jazz prevails whether Washington is performing swing as a featured vocalist for Lionel Hampton's orchestra in 1943 and 1944 or taking a jazz blues approach on 12 solo recordings for Apollo Records in 1945. The Apollo material (which marked the beginning of Washington's solo career) is excellent, and her live performances with the Hampton band -- most or all of which were broadcast by the Armed Forces Radio Service (AFRS) during World War II -- are rewarding even though they fall short of essential. The only time Anthology moves into outright hard bop territory is on a passionate 1954 recording of "Lover Come Back to Me" that boasts an inspired solo by the distinctive trumpeter Clifford Brown (who was a major influence on Lee Morgan, Freddie Hubbard, Woody Shaw, Donald Byrd, and others). Anthology isn't really a best-of and wouldn't be the ideal place for a novice to get started, but Washington's more seasoned aficionados will find a lot to savor on this generally excellent CD. ~ Alex Henderson minimize