Personnel:
Janis Paige, Nancy Steele (vcl), Lew Douglas (arr, dir), Buddy Cole, Joe Baque (p), Barry Galbraith, Don Arnone (g), Wimpy Vernick (b)
Reference: FSR V135 CD
Bar code: 8427328641357
The Best Voices Time Forgot
Collectible Albums by Top Female Vocalists
· Collector's Edition
· 2 Original LPs on 1 CD
· Bonus Tracks
· Original Cover Art, Liner Notes
· Complete Personnel Details
· Stereo Recordings
· Newly Remastered in 24-Bit
Let's Fall in Love
A girl with Janis Paige's appearance and apparent talent could not go unnoticed for long. Having conquered Hollywood first, then Broadway and television, the audiences of the country's top nightclubs also enjoyed the artistic versatility of Janis Paige. Her warm throaty voice, appealing delivery, and intimate style is deftly portrayed in this album, the only one she ever recorded in 1956 for the short-lived Bally label. The repertoire is a pleasant blend of ballads with mid-and slow-tempo pop songs. The clever orchestral background settings that support Janis attractive reading on seven of the tunes —some with strings, piano and reeds, others for a mellow, swinging medium-sized group— was due to the versatile arranger and conductor Lew Douglas. On the remaining selections, Janis is heard effectively accompanied by the pianist Buddy Cole's quartet.
Nitey-Nite
Nancy Steele began her teenage years at high school in Philadelphia. A budding portrait artist, she enrolled in art classes after moving to New York and took singing lessons in her spare time. In 1952, she secured a spot at Mabel Mercer's Byline Room.
This was the launch of what would become an exciting career in show business. Further engagements followed with performances at the Blue Note, Village Vanguard, Le Cupidon, Ray Shaw's, and at many other leading clubs and hotels around the country. Nancy enjoyed a rapid ascent as a veritable vocal find with a seemingly endless repertoire of sophisticated songs as well as a mix of standards. She recorded "Nitey-Nite" in spring 1958 for short-lived New York label Chatam. On this “hot” album, she displayed high mastery of lyrical mood, and her songs fill the air with warm and passionate impressions of a sophisticated life. After years performing in clubs on the posh Manhattan scene, in 1964, Nancy set up her own club, L'Intrigue, where she continued her singing and music-business career until the late 1960s.
"If you're looking king for ladies that have been flowing under the radar, both past and present, heck out Spain’s premier label, Fresh Sound Records, and hear what’s not being heard…
Here you have a pair of albums feature ladies that created what used to be call “Mood Music”. Janis Paige sounds like she’s singing in a Teddy, cooing like Marilyn Monroe with Lew Douglas’ orchestra on a 1956 session that has her pouring out her heart on “I Hadn’t Anyone But You” and carrying a glowing torch on “Why Can’t I”. She bops with an Oscar Peterson-ish team on “My Baby Just Cares for Me” and gets husky on “Let’s Fall In Love”. For a good time, call…
In the same vein, Nancy Steele is joined by Joe Baque/p, Barry Galbraith-Don Arnone and Wimpy (!) Vernick/b, hanging out at the saloon on “I Lost My Sugar In Salt Lake City” and going Tin Pan Alley on “Year After Year”. She’s whispering in your ear on “Lost In A Fog” and oozes regret on “You’ll Never Know” with a bedroom eyes voice for “Nitey-Nite” for this 1959 album of double martini sounds."
—George W. Harris (August 29, 2022)
https://www.jazzweekly.com
