Description
Sarah Vaughan – Sarah Vaughan Sings George Gershwin – Double Vinyl Records
Sarah Vaughan Sings George Gershwin brings Vaughan’s astonishing range to a two-record survey of songs by George and Ira Gershwin. Recorded in 1957 with Hal Mooney’s orchestra, the album balances lush arrangements with enough rhythmic openness for Vaughan to reshape melodies, bend time, and reveal the wit inside lyrics often treated too politely.
“Isn’t It a Pity?,” “Someone to Watch Over Me,” and “The Man I Love” display her ballad mastery, but the set is equally strong when the tempo rises. “I’ll Build a Stairway to Paradise,” “Fascinating Rhythm,” and “Clap Yo’ Hands” show her precise swing, wide interval control, and ability to turn an orchestral arrangement into a genuine jazz conversation.
The program draws from stage works and songbook standards without presenting them as a museum anthology. Vaughan’s diction keeps Ira Gershwin’s wordplay clear, while her harmonic instincts continuously refresh George Gershwin’s melodies. Mooney’s writing supplies brass, reeds, strings, and rhythm-section color without fixing her phrasing in place.
Across twenty-two selections, familiar songs sit beside less frequently heard pieces such as “Of Thee I Sing,” “Lorelei,” and “My One and Only.” The breadth matters: it allows Vaughan to move through comedy, romance, blues feeling, and theatrical exuberance while maintaining a recognizably personal sound.
This 2018 double-vinyl edition contains the complete twenty-two-track program. The two-record format gives the large Gershwin survey appropriate space and keeps the contents distinct from shorter compilations bearing similar titles.
Brand new, never played and still sealed in the factory plastic
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