PEGGY LEE / GEORGE SHEARING - Beauty and the Beat! (1959-2003) RM / FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Upon its first release Beauty and the Beat! was billed as a live recording from a Miami convention of disc jockeys. Though Peggy Lee and George Shearing did in fact perform there (and attempts were made to record them for later release), the songs heard on the subsequent LP were recorded in the studio and overdubbed with rather obvious canned applause, announcements, and even post-production echo. Lee and Shearing, who had never recorded before, conceived a set of completely new arrangements that played to their strengths: stately blues and effervescent swing. The best of the former comes on a pair of locale-referencing quasi-blues, "I Lost My Sugar in Salt Lake City" and "You Came a Long Way From St. Louis," both of which Lee and Shearing are able to transform into languorous, respectable torch songs. The usually downcast "Blue Prelude" is actually taken at a laissez faire tempo that Lee treats well, and the original set ends with "Get Out of Town" and "Satin Doll," a pair of bemused, affectionate performances that perfectly suit the pair. Lee and Shearing's only collaboration on record -- though both would occasionally perform together thereafter -- is a supremely chilled session of late-night blues from two masters of the form. by John Bush  
Tracklist:
1    Do I Love You?    3:03
Cole Porter
2    I Lost My Sugar In Salt Lake City 2:27
John Lange / Leon René
3    If Dreams Come True 2:20
Benny Goodman / Irving Mills / Edgar Sampson
4    All Too Soon    2:35
Duke Ellington / Carl Sigman
5    Mambo In Miami    1:42
Armando Peraza
6    Isn't It Romantic?    2:54
Lorenz Hart / Richard Rodgers
7    Blue Prelude    2:06
Joe Bishop / Gordon Jenkins
8    You Came A Long Way From St. Louis 2:50   
John Benson Brooks / Bob Russell
9    Always True To You In My Fashion    1:58
Cole Porter
10    There'll Be Another Spring    2:23
Peggy Lee / Hubie Wheeler
11    Get Out Of Town    1:58
Cole Porter
12    Satin Doll    2:47
Duke Ellington / Johnny Mercer / Billy Strayhorn
13    Nobody's Heart    2:29
Lorenz Hart / Richard Rodgers
14    Don't Ever Leave Me    2:59
Oscar Hammerstein II / Jerome Kern
Performer – The George Shearing Quintet
Piano – George Shearing
Producer – David Cavanaugh
Vocals – Peggy Lee