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Barbara Lea (1929-2011) was one of the finest jazz singers of the Fifties and early Sixties, with a marvelously poised gift for phrasing, a laid-back swing and a distinctive voice with a thrilling lower register. The Great American Song Book was her natural home and when, in 1956, Down Beats critics voted her Female New Star Singer of the Year, it seemed she was headed for public acclaim as one of the great jazz vocalists. But the rise of pop groups thrust her, like so many superior singers, to one side and though she had a good career, with some detours into acting and teaching, she never made it big.
The three fine albums from 1955-1957 collected here, especially the outstanding eponymous Barbara Lea and Lea In Love, and her leader debut, A Woman In Love, show she deserved better. Her direct, warm approach is beautifully complemented by some excellent soloists, with trumpeter Johnny Windhurst outstanding, along with pianists Billy Taylor and Dick Cary (who also plays alto horn) and the stellar talents of guitarist Jimmy Raney, reedman Ernie Caceres and trombonist Cutty Cutshall. Leas singing retains a timeless quality, redolent of an era without sounding dated.
Tracklist
Total time: 108:37 min.
CD 1
01. Come Rain or Come Shine (Mercer-Arlen) 4:00
02. As Long As I Live (Koehler-Arlen) 2:25
03. Love Is Here to Stay (G.& I. Gershwin) 4:07
04. Thinking of You (Kalmar-Ruby) 2:38
05. I Didnt Know About You (Russell-Ellington) 3:15
06. Love Me (Washington-Young) 2:25
07. The Best Thing for You (Berlin) 2:46
08. A Woman Alone with the Blues (Robison) 5:07
09. Nobody Else But Me (Kern-Hammerstein II) 3:12
10. Where Have You Been (Porter) 3:31
11. Im Comin Virginia (Heywood-Cook) 3:22
12. Honey in the Honeycomb (Latouche-Duke) 2:47
13. Thursdays Child (Boyd-Grand) 2:25
14. Ive Got a Pocketful of Dreams (Monaco-Burke) 1:20
15. My Honeys Lovin Arms (Ruby-Meyer) 2:45
16. I Had Myself a True Love (Mercer-Arlen) 3:45
17. Gee Baby, Aint I Good to You (Redman-Razaf) 3:07
CD 2
01. I Feel at Home with You (Rodgers-Hart) 2:33
02. Baltimore Oriole (Webster-Carmichael) 3:51
03. Blue Skies (Berlin) 3:07
04. Will I Find My Love Today? (Shaw-Fogarty) 3:48
05. We Could Make Such Beautiful Music Together (Sour-Manners) 2:02
06. Youd Be So Nice to Come Home (Porter) 3:20
07. Am I In Love? (Ryan-Barrett) 2:02
08. The Very Thought of You (Noble) 3:07
09. Ive Got My Eyes on You (Porter) 2:13
10. True Love (Porter) 2:56
11. Mountain Greenery (Rodgers-Hart) 2:20
12. More Than You Know (Rose-Eliscu-Youmans) 4:39
13. Aint Misbehavin (Razaf-Waller-Brooks) 2:42
14. Autumn Leaves (Prevert-Mercer-Kosma) 3:19
15. Sleep Peaceful, Mr. Used-to-Be (Mercer-Arlen) 3:18
16. A Straw Hat Full of Lilacs (Lee-Willard Robison) 2:45 (*)
Bonus Tracks:
17. Any Place I Hang My Hat Is Home (Mercer-Arlen) 3:30
18. Ill Bet You a Kiss (Shelly-Jaffe) 2:33
Album details
(*) Does not appear on the LP configuration
Original sources:
CD 1, tracks #1-8 from the 10" album
A Woman In Love (Riverside RLP2518)
CD 1, tracks #9-17 & CD 2, tracks #1-3 from
Barbara Lea (Prestige LP7065)
CD 2, tracks #4-15 from the album
Lea In Love (Prestige LP7100)
CD 2, #16 from the 45 rpm, Prestige 45-101
CD 2, #17 & 18 from the 78 rpm, Cadillac 149
Barbara Lea, vocals in all tracks
Personnel on "A Woman In Love" (CD 1, #1-8)
Johnny Windhurst (tp), Billy Taylor (p), Jimmy Shirley (g), Earl May (b), Percy Brice (d).
Recorded at Rudy Van Gelder Studio, in Hackensack, New Jersey, March 15 (#2, 3, 6) & 16, 1955
Personnel on "Barbara Lea" (CD 1, #9-17 & CD 2, #1-3)
CD 1 #9,13,16; and CD 2 #2: Johnny Windhurst (tp), Dick Cary (ah out on #13), Dick Hyman (p), All Hall (b), Osie Johnson (d).
Recorded at Rudy Van Gelder Studio, in Hackensack, New Jersey, on October 18, 1956
CD 1 #10,11,12,14,15,17; and CD 2 #1,3: Johnny Windhurst (tp), Dick Cary (ah, out on #13), Dick Hyman (p), All Hall (b), Osie Johnson (d).
Recorded at Rudy Van Gelder Studio, in Hackensack, New Jersey, on October 19, 1956
Personnel on "Lea In Love" (CD 2, #4-16)
Track #4: Dick Cary (p), Casamenti (g), Al Hall (b)
Track #5: J. Windhurst (tp), Dick Cary (ah, p), Ernie Caceres (bs), Al Casamenti (g), Al Hall (b), Osie Johnson (d)
Track #6: J. Windhurst (tp), Dick Cary (ah), Jimmy Lyon (p), Jimmy Raney (g), Beverly Peer (b)
Track #7: J. Windhurst (tp), Dick Cary (ah, p), Ernie Caceres (bs), Al Casamenti (g), Al Hall (b), Osie Johnson (d)
Track #8: Dick Cary (ah), Garvin Bushell (bassoon), Ernie Caceres (cl), Jimmy Lyon (p), J. Raney (g), Beverly Peer (b), Osie Johnson (d)
Track #9: Dick Cary (ah), Garvin Bushell (oboe), Ernie Caceres (bs), Jimmy Lyon (p), Jimmy Raney (g), Beverly Peer (b), Osie Johnson (d)
Track #10: Dick Cary (ah), Adele Girard (harp), Jimmy Lyon (p), J. Raney (g), Beverly Peer (b)
Tracks #11 & 12: J. Windhurst (tp), Dick Cary (p), Ernie Caceres (cl), Al Casamenti (g), Al Hall (b), Osie Johnson (d)
Tracks #13 & 14: Dick Cary (p), Al Casamenti (g), Al Hall (b)
Track #15: Dick Cary (ah), Garvin Bushell (oboe), Ernie Caceres (cl), Jimmy Lyon (p, celeste), Jimmy Raney (g), Beverly Peer (b), Osie Johnson (d)
Track #16: Adele Girard (h)
Recorded at Rudy Van Gelder Studio, in Hackensack, New Jersey, April 19 (CD2 #4,13,14), 24 (CD2 #8,9,15), 26 (CD2 #5,7,11,12), and May 1 (CD2 #6,10,16), 1957
Personnel on bonus tracks (CD 2, #17 & 18)
Pee Wee Erwin (tp), Cutty Cutshall (tb), Eddie Barefield (cl), Bill Austin (p), Bill Pemberton (b), George Wettling (d). Terry & The Macks (vcl only on #18).
Recorded in New York City, 1954
Original recordings produced by Bill Grauer & Orrin Keepnews (Riverside), Bob Weinstock (Prestige), Graham Prince (Cadillac)
Compiled for CD release by Jordi Pujol
24-Bit Digitally RemasteredPress reviews
-A Woman In Love
"Barbara Lea's Riverside debut boasts a stark simplicity absent from her subsequent Prestige sessions. Stocked with shopworn standards like "Love Is Here to Stay" and "Come Rain or Come Shine," A Woman in Love features minimalist sensibilities that nevertheless lend its music a distinctly modern edge. Paired with the Billy Taylor Trio and augmented by guitarist Jimmy Shirley and trumpeter Johnny Windhurst, Lea approaches the material with style and sophistication, quickly proving herself a fiercely intelligent interpreter of the Great American Songbook -- though familiar in concept and form, the album is startlingly fresh."
-Jason Ankeny (All Music Guide)
-Lea In Love
"Singer Barbara Lea often recalls her idol and friend Lee Wiley on this set of love songs. The backup is uniformly tasteful but changes from song to song with such impressive stylists as trumpeter Johnny Windhurst, baritonist Ernie Caceres, Garvin Bushell (on oboe and bassoon), Dick Cary (the arranger on piano and alto horn), guitarist Jimmy Raney and (on a beautiful version of "True Love") harpist Adele Girard making memorable appearances. Lea's straightforward and heartfelt delivery is heard at its best on such songs as "You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To," "Mountain Greenery," "More than You Know" and "Autumn Leaves" (which is partly taken in French). These interpretations are often touching."
-Scott Yanow (All Music Guide)
