Description
Johnny Hartman – I Just Dropped By to Say Hello – 180 Gram Vinyl Record
I Just Dropped By to Say Hello followed Johnny Hartman’s celebrated album with John Coltrane and confirmed that the baritone singer’s artistry did not depend on a single historic partnership. Recorded at Rudy Van Gelder’s studio in October 1963, the album surrounds Hartman with Hank Jones, Milt Hinton, Elvin Jones, guitarists Kenny Burrell and Jim Hall, and tenor saxophonist Illinois Jacquet.
Hartman’s voice is deep, controlled, and unusually clear in its diction, but the real distinction is his command of pace. “Charade” and “In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning” unfold without hurry, allowing each phrase to settle naturally. He can make a familiar lyric sound conversational, then lengthen a final word just enough to reveal the song’s ache.
The arrangements leave generous space around the singer. Burrell and Hall contribute different shades of guitar color, Hank Jones supplies elegant harmonic movement, and Jacquet enters with a warm tenor sound that complements Hartman rather than challenging him. The rhythm team of Hinton and Elvin Jones keeps the ballads breathing, avoiding the heavy sweetness that can flatten this repertoire.
The title song, “Stairway to the Stars,” and Hartman’s own “Our Time” form the album’s emotional center. Elsewhere, “Kiss & Run” and “If I’m Lucky” show a lighter swing. The sequence makes a persuasive case for Hartman as a complete jazz singer: attentive to melody, comfortable with silence, and able to project intimacy without sacrificing musical precision.
This Verve By Request edition is pressed on 180-gram vinyl at Third Man Pressing and housed in a gatefold cover. It presents the complete eleven-song Impulse! album, preserving the original split between the six selections on side one and five on side two.
Brand new, never played and still sealed in the factory plastic
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.