Kitty White - Intimate: Kitty White Sings (2020)

A word to the wise: listening to Kitty White (1923-2009) is a unique experience. She was born in Los Angeles into a well-known musical family, whose environment provided her with a solid background. The story of Kitty s career is relatively uneventful, mostly because she chose to stay pretty much on home base in Los Angeles, where she earned a steady and loyal following as a pianist and singer in intimate night clubs, frequently singing sophisticated songs with well-traveled lyrics, entoured by groups featuring outstanding west coast jazz musicians.

The two albums on this set were recorded in 1954 and 1962, and for those of you who don t know Kitty White yet, they are an excellent opportunity to be seduced by her remarkable, colorful, precise and imaginative voice, one so personal that it almost defies comparison. Her diction, phrasing and control are a study in perfection. Accompanied only by harp and flute, or by guitar, flute and bass, she sings with warmth, soul and feeling for the lyrics, and is equally at ease with pop ballads, folk songs, spirituals, and blues. It is in this torchy, melancholic mood that Miss White handles herself best. As producer David Hubert put it, Kitty White sings, purely and simply, in a clear, proud voice that seems to say, this is the way I should be heard .