Loading home…
Notes From CD - Jam Session Musicians Carol Sloane, Chuck Wayne, Bucky Pizzarelli, Ralph Patt, Marky Markowitz, Kenny O’Brien, Bill Finegan Carol Sloane, who began singing professionally in 1951 at a very young age, met her early mentor, bandleader Larry Elgart, while touring amusement park ballrooms in the southern New England area in the late 1950s. She successfully auditioned for him and came to New York with his popular band, and it was during her early days with the outfit that she took part in the late night sessions resulting in SSJ’s Hush-A-Bye CD and this latest Sloane release from the label, Little Girl Blue. Those after hours affairs, as recalled in 2008 by Elgart, were more in the nature of jam sessions than traditional recordings dates: “It was very informal.” Unlike Hush-A-Bye, which was initially released in Japan in 1987 and then, again, by SSJ in 2008, the tracks on this latest historic recording have never been available before now. Not too long after those evenings in the sound studio, stardom came calling on Sloane after a headline-grabbing appearance at the 1961 Newport Jazz Festival, one that resulted in the singer securing a major record label contract. Just like Hush-A-Bye, this latest offering displays a young, but already, in 1959, fully formed artist. And Sloane followed through on the promise displayed that Summer ‘61 afternoon at Newport, and now, a half century later, she remains the recipient of major tributes from critics everywhere, in words of praise the likes of: “This is what jazz is all about,” “if Carol Sloane isn’t America’s greatest living jazz singer, then no one deserves the title,” and “she may be the most complete jazz singer working today.” Bill Reed Release Producer Original recordings produced by Larry Elgart/Recorded at Larry Elgart Studio in 1959