An electrifying live performance from one of the most beloved female vocalists of the 20th century.
Dinah Washington had been singing in various settings from the mid 1940s, and was highly regarded with several R & B singles, and even a country version of Hank Williams “Cold, Cold Heart” in 1951. Dinah Jams, from a live performance in Los Angeles in 1954, was only her second album release when it was released in 1955. She instantly became the favourite singer of thousands of serious jazz fans. The opening track is all one need hear to appreciate the magnitude of her talent and the instant devotion of jazz record buyers.
She subsequently recorded great albums with Cannonball Adderley and the young Quincy Jones. She took on material by Fats Waller and Bessie Smith with equal aplomb. In the late 1950s she turned her attention to middle of the road material that resulted in pop hits and a wider audience. And those MOR recordings such as “Cry Me A River” and “I Remember You”, along with her monster hit “What A Diff’rence A Day Made” are worthy in their own right. Dinah could sing anything: blues, gospel, country, pop, and jazz of course, but her early work in pure jazz stands out as nothing short of electrifying.
One could write a book alone about the recording of Dinah Jams. Session players featured the fabulous Max Roach on drums, and not one but three incredible trumpet players: Clifford Brown, Maynard Ferguson and Clark Terry; they were accompanied by the wonderful Herb Geller on alto saxophone, Junior Mance on piano, and more. The album sizzles from beginning to end, with several marvellous solos from the musicians.
Dinah not only manages to hold her own in this stellar grouping, but shines in this setting as well as Ella Fitzgerald or Billie Holiday did in theirs, live and in the studio. Dinah’s voice is strong, compelling, and unique, with a facility for bringing new meaning to even the slightest word in a lyric. Consider what Quincy Jones had to say about her:
“She could take the melody in her hand, hold it like an egg, crack it open, fry it, let it sizzle, reconstruct it, put the egg back in the box and back in the refrigerator and you would’ve still understood every single syllable.”
“Lover Come Back To Me” opens the set, and holds nothing back. It is ten glorious minutes of music-making that cannot be overstated for its passionate performance from all quarters. At ten minutes, it is ten minutes too short, with magnificent solos on trumpet, bass, drums (Max Roach is unforgettable here), piano and vocals.
Standout tracks include the vocal tour de force “No More” with some splendid piano work and trumpet in a quiet but effective background. Frank Clifford excels on a short but searing instrumental version of “Summertime”. Dinah’s version of “Come Rain or Come Shine”, with its passionate intensity has somehow displaced my own memory of Billie Holiday’s vocal splendour. She does the same for “I’ve Got You Under My Skin”, replacing the classic Sinatra version for this listener. Her unabashed tenderness with “Crazy He Calls Me” is truly something special, with a lovely saxophone solo supporting the vocal. The album closes the way it opens: with an explosive, extended improvisation from all quarters on a classic, this one being “I Remember April”.
Dinah Washington passed away in 1963 from an accidental overdose of prescription medicines. She was thirty-nine years old and still at her peak, having recently performed with both Count Basie and Duke Ellington.
Pop fans will probably stick with her top-selling album What A Diff’rence A Day Makes from 1959, but jazz fans will treasure Dinah Jams.
