Complete Royal Roost Recordings (3 LP on 2 CD) + Bonus Tracks
  • Royal Roost LP 2206
    Royal Roost LP 2206
  • Royal Roost LP 2212
    Royal Roost LP 2212
  • Royal Roost LP 2218
    Royal Roost LP 2218
  • Beverly Kenney
    Beverly Kenney

Beverly Kenney

Complete Royal Roost Recordings (3 LP on 2 CD) + Bonus Tracks

Fresh Sound Records

Personnel:
Beverly Kenney (vcl), Joe Newman (tp), Frank Wess (ts, fl), Urbie Green (tb), Julius Watkins (Frh), Bob Pancoast, Gildo Mahones, Tony Tamburello (p), Jimmy Jones (p, arr), Johnny Smith, Freddie Green, Billy Bauer (g), Knobby Totah, Eddie Jones, Milt Hinton, Tommy Potter (b), Mousie Alexander, Jo Jones, Don Lamond, Ron Jefferson (d), Ralph Burns (arr, dir)

Reference: FSRCD 720

Bar code: 8427328607209

 THIS PRODUCT IS NOT AVAILABLE FOR SALE IN THE U.S. 

This definitive double-CD edition includes the complete ROYAL ROOST albums:

- BEVERLY KENNEY SINGS FOR JOHNNY SMITH
- COME SWING WITH ME
- BEVERLY KENNEY SINGS WITH JIMMY JONES AND THE BASIE-ITES

And more from his very early recordings and radio broadcasts

The appearance of Beverly Kenney as a guest vocalist at the 1955 Jazz for Israel concert at Carnegie Hall was the beginning of her successful but tragically short career she took her own life at 28. Her arrival was, for most pop buyers and jazz fans, a major event. Considered one of the most intriguing new voices to come since Julie Londons auspicious record debut, she exuded warmth and a sense of humor, taste and tenderness, while her innate jazz pulse won her glowing tributes from jazz critics.

With her lightly husky, attractive voiceand her styleshe gave an impeccably contemporary reading to the standards on her three Royal Roost albums, accompanied by Johnny Smiths group, Ralph Burns orchestra and by the fine support of Jimmy Jones and the Basie-ites.

This set is completed by several intriguing bonus tracks she recorded early in her career, including a demo session with pianist and vocal coach Tony Tamburello recorded just before her major breakthrough, and tracks from a broadcast she did with the trio of Gildo Mahones. In an arresting demonstration of her quality, the set displays not only all her skills as a singer, but also her outstanding musicianship and care for lyrics.

—Jordi Pujol

Tracklist

Sample this album
Disc 1
Disc 2
Total time: 127:25 min.


CD 1
01. The Surrey with the Fringe on Top (Rodgers-Hammerstein II) 2:09
02. Tis' Autumn (Henry Nemo) 2:29
03. Looking for a Boy (G. & I. Gershwin) 2:19
04. I'll Know My Love (Greensleeves) (Lee Jones-Budy Kaye) 2:34
05. Destination Moon (Roy Alfred-Mark Fisher) 2:21
06. Ball and Chain (Sweet Lorraine) (Cliff Burwell-Michael Parish) 3:02
07. Almost Like Being In Love (Alan J. Lerner-Frederick Loewe) 2:08
08. Stairway to the Stars (Parish-Malneck-Signorelli) 2:46
09. There Will Never Be Another You (Harry Warren-Mack Gordon) 2:12
10. This Little Town Is Paris (Milton Schwartz) 3:10
11. Moe's Blues (Morgana King) 2:16
12. Snuggled on Your Shoulder (Joe Young-Carmen Lombardo) 2:28
13. Give Me the Simple Life (Bloom-Ruby) 2:19
14. I Guess Ill Hang My Tears Out to Dry (Sammy Cahn-Jules Styne) 2:58
15. Trolley Song (Martin-Blane) 1:52
16. Violets for My Furs (Adair-Dennis) 2:53
17. This Can't Be Love (Rodgers-Hart) 1:47
18. Scarlet Ribbons (Segal-Danzig) 1:57
19. If I Were a Bell (Loesser) 2:08
20. Why Try to Change Me Now (Coleman-McCarthy) 3:33
21. Swinging on a Star (Burke-Van Heusen) 3:01
22. You Go to My Head (Gillespie-Coots) 2:38
23. It Ain't Necessarily So (G. & I. Gershwin) 1:32
24. You Make Me Feel So Young (Gordon-Myrow) 2:10

CD 2
01. Nobody Else But Me (Hammerstein-Kern) 3:17
02. The More I See You (Gordon-Warren) 3:03
03. Old Buttermilk Sky (Brooks-Carmichael) 2:43
04. I Never Has Seen Snow (Arlen-Capote) 3:51
05. A Fine Romance (Fields-Kern) 2:52
06. Who Cares What People Say (Jerome-Scholl) 2:34
07. Makin' Whoopee (Donaldson-Kahn) 2:03
08. The Charm of You (Cahn-Styne) 2:31
09. Isn't This a Lovely Day? (Berlin) 3:04
10. Mairzy Doats (Drake-Hoffman-Livingston) 2:46
11. My Kind of Love (Holdeman-Sherman-Trace) 2:25
12. Can't Get Out of this Mood (Loesser-McHugh) 2:46
13. Gay Chicks (Shand-Merrill) 2:24 *
14. Tea for Two (Caesar-Youmans) 2:50 *
15. The Things We Did Last Summer (Cahn-Styne) 2:36 *
16. That's All (Brandt-Haymes) 2:39 *
17. A Foggy Day (I. & G. Gershwin) 1:54 *
18. The Surrey with the Fringe on Top (Rodgers-Hammerstein) 1:50 *
19. Ball and Chain (Sweet Lorraine) (Parish-Burwell) 2:05 *
20. There Will Never Be Another You (Gordon-Warren) 1:35 *
21. Moe's Blues (Morgana King) 1:47 *
22. Snuggled on Your Shoulder (young-Lombardo) 2:07 *
23. Can't Get Out of this Mood [false start] (Loesser-Mchugh) 0:20 *
24. Can't Get Out of this Mood (Loesser-Mchugh) 2:21 *
25. Surrey with the Fringe on Top (Rodgers-Hammerstein) 1:51 *
26. Violets for Your Furs (Adair-Dennis) 2:13 *
27. Mountain Greenery (Rodgers-Hart) 1:31 *
28. Almost Like Being In Love (Loewe-Lerner) 2:05 *

Album details

(*) Bonus Tracks

Sources:
CD 1, tracks #1-12 from the 12" album
"Beverly Kenney Sings for Johnny Smith" (Royal Roost LP 2206)
CD 1, tracks #13-24 from the 12" album
"Come Swing With Me" (Royal Roost LP 2212)
CD 2, tracks #1-12 from the 12" album
"Beverly Kenney Sings With Jimmy Jones And the Basie-Ites"
(Royal Roost LP 2218)
CD 2, track #13 was recorded by Kenney early in her career as part of a tap dance instruction recording. Labeled on the original 78 rpm as "Gay Chicks," the song is in fact a pop tune based on an old African-American saying, "A Chicken Ain't Nothing' But a Bird."
CD 2, tracks #14-24 are duet versions (vocal and piano) of tunes also recorded for the Royal Roost label and included on CD 1, tracks #1,6,9,11,12 and CD 2, track #12.
CD 2, tracks #25-28 from Radio Broadcast

Personnel on "Sings for Johnny Smith":
Beverly Kenney (vcl), accompanied by Bob Pancoast (p, celeste), Johnny Smith (g), Knobby Totah (b), Mousie Alexander (d).
Recorded in New York City, 1955

Personnel on "Come Swing With Me":
Beverly Kenney (vcl), accompanied by Ralph Burns Orchestra: Nick Travis (tp), Urbie Green (tb), Julius Watkins (Frh), Al Epstein (cl), Sam Marowitz (as), George Berg, Danny Bank (bs), Moe Wechsler (p), Billy Bauer, Barry Galbraith (g), Janet Putnam (harp), Milt Hinton (b), Don Lamond (d), Ted Sommer (bongo).
Recorded in New York City, May, 1956

Personnel on "Sings with Jimmy Jones...":
Beverly Kenney (vcl), with Joe Newman (tp), Frank Wess (ts, fl), Jimmy Jones (p, arr), Freddie Green (g), Eddie Jones (b), Jo Jones (d).
Recorded in New York City, 1957

Personnel on Radio Broadcast:
Beverly Kenney (vcl), Gildo Mahones (p), Tommy Potter (b), Ron Jefferson (d).
Recorded live radio show, New York City, 1956

Original recordings produced by Teddy Reig and Jack Hook
Compiled for CD release by Jordi Pujol

Hi Fi · 24-Bit Digitally Remastered
Blue Moon Producciones Discograficas S.L.

Press reviews

"Attention fans of vocal jazz! This review is for YOU! What Jackie Paris is to male singers, Beverly Kinney is to females. She had an incredibly individual voice all her own, recorded some incredibly moving music, never quite got to the top tier, and, suddenly, just like that (in her case because of suicide) had a career that was abruptly cut off from the music scene. Dont let this tragic life go away without meaning. This pair of 2-CD sets (FSRCD 720 & FSRCD 721) covers everything youll want, and make you scrounge around for anything else that might be out there.

The Royal Roost sessions find her at her most hip and swinging. Theres a 55 session that has her fronting a very hip quartet that features Johnny Smith on guitar, a 56 session with Ralph Burns Orchestra (with Milt Hinton on bass), a 57 outing with pianist Jimmy Jones leading members of the Atomic Basie band (like Frank Wess, Freddie Green, Eddie Jones and Jo Jones-interested yet?!?) and a collection of radio shows and things left on the recording studio floor.

Her voice has the clarity of Ella, the swing of Holiday and the playfulness of Dearie, yet its all her own. She takes a piece like Destination Moon and twirls it like a Foster Freeze, while on You Go To My Head she sounds positively ruminative. The session with Basies band finds her in her most comfortable element, floating over Old Buttermilk Sky or Isnt This a Lovely Day? with a confidence that few inherently have. She had it!

The fact that she was unappreciated during her terribly short life is a crime, and an added footnote to the line in Ecclesiastes that under the sun, all is vanity. Try to get some meaning out of it all by enjoying what she brought to us still on this side of eternity."

George W. Harris (October 18, 2012)
www.jazzweekly.com
______________________________________________________________________________________

"One of the most promising jazz singers to emerge in the 1950s, Beverly Kenney committed suicide in 1960 after a love affair broke up; she was just 28. In her short career, she received praise from critics but was probably fighting a losing battle against rock and roll. If she had been born ten years earlier, her renditions of superior standards may very well have made her famous. Decades after her death, she became a bit of a cult figure in Japan where all of her recordings and some previously unreleased material (including a demo session from 1954) became popular [...]

Equally skilled on swinging material and ballads, Kenney always did justice to the words that she interpreted while consistently uplifting each song. The Complete Royal Roost Recordings, which dates from 1954-57, reissues her albums Sings For Johnny Smith (with a quartet that includes guitarist Johnny Smith), Come Swing With Me (assisted by Ralph Burns arrangements for a 14-piece band) and Sings With Jimmy Jones and the Basie-ites (interacting with a sextet of Count Basie-associated musicians including trumpeter Joe Newman and Frank Wess on tenor and flute). The many bonus tracks include her demo session with pianist Tony Tamburello and four songs from an appearance on a radio show."

Scott Yanow -L.A. Jazz Scene (February, 2013)

Price:

14,95 €  (tax incl.)

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