Donna Hightower - Take One! / Gee, Baby, Ain't I Good To You (2009)

One of the highest tributes to any musician in a recording session is that he or she is a “Take One” artist. Donna Hightower is just that, a singer who delivers perfectly the first time she steps to the mike. In these late Fifties sides she demonstrated the phrasing, taste and skill which marked her as one the brightest new vocalist stars of the time. Backing her are two all-star groups conducted by Sid Feller and featuring some of the greatest soloists of the New York jazz scene, including Joe Wilder, Ben Webster, Hank Jones, Georgie Auld, Mundell Lowe, George Duvivier and Don Lamond.

I was going to say that Donna Hightower "was" - but Ms Hightower was still performing as late as 2006 in her eighties and she doesn't strike me as someone who would take kindly to being placed in the past tense while she's still very much with us, so I'll say "is" - an outstanding jazz, blues and pop singer. All of those talents are on display on "Take One!"

Ms Hightower had an exceptional voice: Big, bold, brassy - with an understated natural vibratto. She could swing, sob, shout, rock-and-roll and burn your house down. Like Sarah Vaughan she could sing almost anything and like the Divine One, she was willing to try. Had it not been for the fact that shortly after she recorded "Gee Baby…." she went to London for a one-week gig at the Stork Club - and then spent the next 31 years in Europe - she might well have been a star in the US. But, we'll never know…. Instead, this CD is, to my knowledge, all that's available today. Fortunately it's an outstanding disc.

The CD is actually two Capitol LPs: "Take One!" recorded in 1958; and, "Gee Baby, Ain't I Good to You," recorded in 1959.

"Take One!" the LP, was recorded in a session that was actually supposed to be for Dakota Staton. Ms Staton canceled at the last minute and producer Dave Cavanaugh, now stuck with Sid Feller's All-Stars, featuring the likes of saxman Ben Webster, trumpeter Joe Wilder, guitarist Mundell Lowe and pianist Hank Jones cooling their heels with nobody to play for, suddenly remembered Ms Hightower, (who was working for a publishing company in Brooklyn). With three hours notice and no rehersal, Ms Hightower stepped in and stepped up - and man-oh-man, did she nail it! "Take One!" is a set of standards, including: "There I've Said It Again," "Please Don't Take Your Love Away From Me," "I Get a Kick Out of You," and "Trouble in Mind." This is swinging, rollicking '50's jazz and jazzy pop. Every one of the 12 songs in the set is a gem.

Six months later, Ms Hightower was back in the studio again - and this time it was her session. The musical credits for "Gee Baby…," are a little unclear - it was Sid Feller's Orchestra with saxman George Auld, Chauncey Welsh on trombone, and Mr Jones again at the piano - after that, the credits are hazy. But the music certainly isn't. Some jazz, some blues, some pop - Ms Hightower just cranks it up and lets it fly! The 12 song set includes; "Every Day I Have the Blues," "All or Nothing at All," "I'm Alone Because I Love You," and of course, the title song.

The sonics are excellent: Ms Hightower's voice is clear and clean and there's plenty of instrumental separation.


Tracks:

'Take One!', recorded in 1958:

01. Perfidia (02:27)
02. Maybe You'll Be There (02:47)
03. Lover Come Back to Me (01:57)
04. There, I've Said It Again (02:14)
05. Because of You (02:30)
06. Please Don't Take Your Love Away From Me (02:52)
07. C'est La Vie (02:34)
08. Too Young (02:31)
09. Baby, Get Lost (02:39)
10. I Get A Kick Out Of You (02:26)
11. Anytime, Anyday, Anywhere (02:32)
12. Trouble In Mind (02:33)

'Gee, Baby, Ain't I Good To You?', recorded in 1959:

13. Every Day I Have The Blues (02:46)
14. Gee, Baby, Ain't I Good to You? (03:06)
15. All Or Nothing At All (01:45)
16. I Laughed To Keep From Crying (02:20)
17. Lonesome And Sorry (01:37)
18. The First To Know (02:31)
19. The Blues Don't Care (02:54)
20. Can't Help It (02:05)
21. Born To Be Blue (02:25)
22. I'll Be Around (02:04)
23. A Cottage For Sale (03:05)
24. I'm Alone Because I Love You (02:32)