LOTTE LENYA - Lotte Lenya Sings American & Berlin Theater Songs of Kurt Weill (1988) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Employing the same Richard Avedon portrait that graced the cover of the 1970 double-LP The Lotte Lenya Album, this collection is an abbreviated version of that compilation, cut down to fit the length limit of a single CD. The Lotte Lenya Album was nothing more or less than a two-fer repackaging of the single LPs Lotte Lenya Sings Berlin Theatre Songs by Kurt Weill and September Song and Other American Theatre Songs by Kurt Weill. For this version, the last four songs from the former ("Was Die Herren Matrosen Sagen," "Ballade vom Ertrunkenen Mädchen," "Lied der Fennimore," and "Cäsars Todd") have been deleted to bring the total running time down to 70 minutes. Thus, the first eight tracks find Lenya in Germany in 1955, singing mostly in German songs composed by Weill with lyrics by Bertolt Brecht from their stage works Die Dreigroschenoper ("The Threepenny Opera"), Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny ("Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny"), and Happy End, while the last 12 tracks find her in the U.S. in 1957, singing in English songs from Weill's Broadway musicals Knickerbocker Holiday, Lady in the Dark, One Touch of Venus, The Firebrand of Florence, Street Scene, Love Life, and Lost in the Stars. Lenya always disputed the notion that there were two Weills, the Berlin Weill and the Broadway Weill, but she ended up reinforcing that argument with these two LPs, and juxtaposing two-thirds of one with all of the other on this disc does not disprove it. Lenya was the definitive interpreter of the Brecht/Weill catalog, of course, and when she came to make the recordings here she had been singing (and recording) songs like "Seeräuberjenny" ("Pirate Jenny") and "Surabaya-Johnny" for more than a quarter-century. It's no surprise that she sounds assured on the first eight tracks, which use the original orchestrations for small jazz band conducted by Roger Bean. It's a different story with the Broadway tunes that make up tracks 9-20, however, as Maurice Levine conducts a string orchestra on songs for which other singers have done memorable treatments, including "September Song," "Saga of Jenny," "Speak Low," and "Lost in the Stars." With her limited range and German-accented English, Lenya is not the best interpreter of this material, and she does better with the less familiar songs, such as "Sing Me Not a Ballad," which actually was written for her to sing in the unsuccessful operetta The Firebrand of Florence. As such, the decision to excise a third of the Berlin album is all the more questionable. by William Ruhlmann  
Tracklist:

1 September Song 3:45

Maxwell Anderson / Kurt Weill
2 It Never Was You 2:26
Maxwell Anderson / Kurt Weill
3 The Saga of Jenny 3:58
Ira Gershwin / Kurt Weill
4 Foolish Heart 3:10
Ogden Nash / Kurt Weill
5 Speak Low 2:49
Ogden Nash / Kurt Weill
6 Sing Me Not a Ballad 4:15
Ira Gershwin / Kurt Weill
7 Lonely House 3:36
Langston Hughes / Kurt Weill
8 A Boy Like You 2:26
Langston Hughes / Kurt Weill
9 Green-Up Time 2:34
Alan Jay Lerner / Kurt Weill
10 Trouble Man 3:42
Maxwell Anderson / Kurt Weill
11 Stay Well 3:01
Maxwell Anderson / Kurt Weill
12 Lost in the Stars 3:59
Maxwell Anderson / Kurt Weill
13 Song of Ruth 2:08
Kurt Weill / Franz Werfel
14 The Solomon Song 3:37
Marc Blitzstein / Bertolt Brecht / Kurt Weill
15 Song 3:05
Bertolt Brecht / Paul Dessau
16 Song of a German Mother 2:24
Bertolt Brecht / Hanns Eisler
17 So What 3:21
Fred Ebb / John Kander
Lotte Lenya feat: Harold Hastings
18 What Would You Do? 3:25
Fred Ebb / John Kander
Lotte Lenya feat: Harold Hastings 
19 It Couldn't Please Me More (A Pineapple) 3:17
Fred Ebb / John Kander
Lotte Lenya feat: Jack Gilford / Harold Hastings
20 Married 2:41
Fred Ebb / John Kander
Lotte Lenya feat: Jack Gilford / Harold Hastings
21 Moritat Vom Mackie Messer 2:52
Bertolt Brecht / Kurt Weill
Lotte Lenya feat: Turk Murphy
22 Mack the Knife 3:11
Marc Blitzstein / Bertolt Brecht / Kurt Weill
Lotte Lenya feat: Turk Murphy
23 Mack the Knife 8:34
Marc Blitzstein / Bertolt Brecht / Kurt Weill
Lotte Lenya feat: Louis Armstrong

MABEL MERCER & BOBBY SHORT - At Town Hall + Second Town Hall Concert (2001) 2CD / Mp3

NELLIE McKAY - Obligatory Villagers [2007] FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

The irony inherent in Obligatory Villagers, the shortest of Nellie McKay's first three albums, is that it's her most difficult to understand, comprehend, or even take in. This despite the fact that, unlike her first two albums, these nine songs don't sprawl stylistically. Except for a light pop opener -- granted, that opener is a mocking satire of conservatives called "Mother of Pearl" with an opening line ("Feminists don't have a sense of humor") that deftly counterbalances McKay's later call for a dance break -- the album is Broadway all the way. With McKay's voice and piano, plus heavyweight help from jazz horns including David Liebman, Phil Woods, and Bob Dorough (the latter a singing horn), the album charges by with lightning speed. Her nimble Broadway orchestrations step and kick so quickly that it's nearly impossible to decode McKay's lyrics until after several listens -- even keeping up with the lyric book is difficult. (On his features, Dorough plays it up perfectly, a bemused and befuddled onlooker to the madness.) The fact that Obligatory Villagers does eventually coalesce into a unified and pleasurable listening experience is primarily a testament to Nellie McKay's sizable skills in arrangement and orchestration; writing original charts to provide the meat, then quoting from show tune tradition where she needs to lighten the mood, she makes the entire album a treat, an entertaining experience that listeners will want to sit through over and over until they figure out all of the points -- large and small -- she's making in these songs. If only there were a Broadway musical companion for Obligatory Villagers that listeners could actually sit through, either to visually unite the songs or merely to watch while they listened, Obligatory Villagers would be an amazing soundtrack. by John Bush  
Tracklist:
1 Mother of Pearl 2:10
Nellie McKay
Bass – Paul Rostock
Drums – Marko Marcinko
Vocals, Piano, Ukulele – Nellie McKay
2 Oversure 3:20
Nellie McKay
Baritone Saxophone – Tom Hamilton 
Bass – Paul Rostock
Clarinet, Alto Saxophone – Nelson Hill
Drums – Marko Marcinko
Guitar – Spencer Reed
Soprano Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone – David Liebman
Trombone – Cameron MacManus
Trumpet – Ken Brader III*
Tuba, Bass Trombone – Jim Daniels
Vocals – Bob Dorough
Vocals, Piano, Wind Chimes [Chimes], Timpani, Gong, Xylophone, Glockenspiel – Nellie McKay
3 Gin Rummy 2:58
Nellie McKay
Baritone Saxophone – Tom Hamilton 
Bass – Paul Rostock
Clarinet, Alto Saxophone – Nelson Hill
Drums – Marko Marcinko
Guitar – Spencer Reed
Soprano Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone – David Liebman
Trombone – Cameron MacManus
Trumpet, Flugelhorn – Ken Brader III
Tuba, Bass Trombone – Jim Daniels
Vocals, Organ, Piano, Organ [Wurlitzer], Wind Chimes [Chimes], Xylophone, Glockenspiel – Nellie McKay
4 Livin 0:23
Nellie McKay
Baritone Saxophone – Tom Hamilton 
Bass – Paul Rostock
Clarinet, Alto Saxophone – Nelson Hill
Drums – Marko Marcinko
Guitar – Spencer Reed
Soprano Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone – David Liebman
Trombone – Cameron MacManus
Trumpet – Ken Brader III
Tuba – Jim Daniels
Vocals, Piano, Xylophone, Glockenspiel – Nellie McKay
5 Identity Theft 3:27
Nellie McKay
Alto Saxophone – Nelson Hill
Baritone Saxophone – Tom Hamilton 
Bass – Paul Rostock
Bass Trombone – Jim Daniels
Drums – Marko Marcinko
Guitar – Spencer Reed
Soprano Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone – David Liebman
Trombone – Cameron MacManus
Trumpet – Ken Brader III
Vocals, Piano, Xylophone, Synthesizer – Nellie McKay
6 Galleon 3:21
Nellie McKay
Alto Saxophone – Nelson Hill
Baritone Saxophone – Tom Hamilton 
Bass – Paul Rostock
Bass Trombone – Jim Daniels
Drums – Marko Marcinko
Flugelhorn – Ken Brader III
Guitar – Spencer Reed
Soprano Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone – David Liebman
Trombone – Cameron MacManus
Vocals – Bob Dorough
Vocals, Piano, Gong, Xylophone – Nellie McKay
7 Politan 4:18
Nellie McKay
Alto Saxophone – Phil Woods
Bass – Paul Rostock
Bass Trombone – Jim Daniels
Drums – Marko Marcinko
Flute – Nelson Hill
Guitar – Spencer Reed
Tenor Saxophone – Tom Hamilton 
Trombone – Cameron MacManus
Trumpet – Ken Brader III
Vocals – Bob Dorough, Nancy Reed
Vocals, Organ, Piano, Wind Chimes [Chimes], Gong – Nellie McKay
8 Testify 5:40
Nellie McKay
Accordion – Eric Doney
Alto Saxophone – Nelson Hill
Baritone Saxophone – Tom Hamilton 
Bass – Paul Rostock
Drums – Marko Marcinko
Guitar – Spencer Reed
Soprano Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone – David Liebman
Trombone – Cameron MacManus
Trumpet – Ken Brader III
Tuba, Bass Trombone – Jim Daniels
Vocals – Vicki Doney
Vocals, Organ, Piano, Ukulele, Wind Chimes [Chimes], Timpani, Gong – Nellie McKay
9 Zombie 5:56
Nellie McKay
Bass – Paul Rostock
Drums – Marko Marcinko
Featuring [Additional Assistance] – Agnieszka Rybsha, Bob Dorough, Brian Sullivan (2), Eric Doney, Evan Wichman, Jack Jolly, Jack Young, Kristen Jolly, Linda Kistler, Marko Marcinko, Marsha Cahn, Paul Rostock, Peter Koravesis, Peter Pappalardo, Samantha Lyon, Vicki Doney
Tenor Saxophone – Nelson Hill
Vocals, Organ [Wurlitzer], Organ – Nellie McKay

NELLIE McKAY - Obligatory Villagers

 [2007] Hungry Mouse / FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

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NELLIE McKAY - Sister Orchid [2018] FLAC

Given her jazz-influenced sound and knack for thoughtfully chosen cover songs, it's surprising that Nellie McKay had never released a complete jazz standards album until 2018's smoky, intimately rendered Sister Orchid. The closest the idiosyncratic singer/songwriter had gotten previously was her brightly attenuated 2009 Doris Day tribute, Normal as Blueberry Pie, which found her investigating songs heavily associated with the iconic actress and singer. Similarly, on 2015's My Weekly Reader, McKay took on some of her favorite '60s pop tunes by bands like the Kinks, Herman's Hermits, Moby Grape, and others. Here, McKay takes a deftly straightforward approach, performing a set of well-chosen standards that wouldn't be out of place on an album by Blossom Dearie (another McKay touchstone) from the 1950s. McKay, who arranged and played all of the songs on Sister Orchid, recorded the album in New York with engineer Chris Allen. Allen has worked with a bevy of jazz, folk, and pop artists including Kurt Elling, José James, Ingrid Michaelson, Andrew Bird, and others, and brings a soft, natural warmth that never interferes with McKay's performance. Primarily, these are spare arrangements, often just McKay accompanying herself on piano, as on the haunting "Angel Eyes." Elsewhere, as on her dusky reading of "Where or When," she weaves in a mournful cello. There are also jaunty bits of ukulele, as on "Lazybones," which also features her overdubbed backing vocals. The Broadway-tested McKay also displays her love of cabaret as she intersperses crowd chatter and clinking glasses to theatrical effect on "Everything Happens to Me." Despite her penchant for artifice, McKay reveals her strong musical chops on Sister Orchid, launching into a mad-eyed boogie-woogie section on "Where or When" and delivering a spine-tingling, synth-accented take on "In a Sentimental Mood" that conjures the neon-soaked atmosphere of David Lynch's Twin Peaks.  by Matt Collar  
Tracklist
1 My Romance 2:21

Lorenz Hart / Richard Rodgers 

2 Angel Eyes 2:01
Earl Brent / Matt Dennis 
3 Small Day Tomorrow 3:32
Bob Dorough / Fran Landesman 
4 Willow Weep for Me 5:54
Ann Ronell 
5 The Nearness of You 2:17
Hoagy Carmichael / Ned Washington 
6 Georgia on My Mind 3:34
Hoagy Carmichael / Stuart Gorrell 
7 Lazybones 3:10
Hoagy Carmichael / Johnny Mercer 
8 Where or When 2:41
Matt Dennis / Lorenz Hart 
9 Everything Happens to Me 2:55
Tom Adair / Matt Dennis 
10 In a Sentimental Mood 3:47
Duke Ellington / Manny Kurtz 
11 My Romance (Reprise) 2:42
Lorenz Hart / Richard Rodgers 
Credits 
Arranged By, Performer – Nellie McKay

NELLIE McKAY - Sister Orchid 

[2018] Palmetto / FLAC / scans

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BOBBY SHORT - My Personal Property [1963] Atlantic

My Personal Property is Bobby Short's album of songs written by pop and show composer Cy Coleman, all of them except the title track with lyrics by Carolyn Leigh. Short is a longtime musical friend of an earlier generation of similar writers such as Cole Porter, Noël Coward, George Gershwin, and Rodgers & Hart, but he proves just as compatible with Coleman, if not more so. Coleman got his start in Tin Pan Alley, penning standards like "The Best Is Yet to Come" and "Witchcraft" before moving to Broadway with the musicals Wildcat ("Hey Look Me Over") and Little Me. His jazzy, upfront style and strong melodies are perfect for Short's forceful interpretative style, and Leigh's sly, witty lyrics are equally appropriate to a singer used to wringing every humorous nuance from Cole Porter. Short has learned to vary his approach over the years, not playing and singing flat out on every number, and that allows him to be delicate and precise on "I've Got Your Number," for example, without any loss of power. The piano-bass-drums arrangements are augmented by a couple of conga players here and there, to good effect. Coleman has had some important interpreters, including Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett, but Bobby Short is worthy of such company, and he demonstrates that Coleman is worthy of the company of the classic songwriters he usually covers. by William Ruhlmann  
Tracklist
1 The Best Is Yet to Come 3:44
Cy Coleman / Carolyn Leigh
2 Witchcraft 2:19
Cy Coleman / Carolyn Leigh
3 I've Got Your Number 3:59
Cy Coleman / Carolyn Leigh
4 It Amazes Me 2:30
Cy Coleman / Carolyn Leigh
5 Its 2:37
Cy Coleman / Carolyn Leigh 
6 On the Other Side of the Tracks 2:48
Cy Coleman / Carolyn Leigh
7 My Personal Property 3:43
Cy Coleman / Dorothy Fields
8 Hey, Look Me Over!  2:00
Cy Coleman / Carolyn Leigh
9 I Walk a Little Faster 2:16
Cy Coleman / Carolyn Leigh
10 Here's Hoping 2:39
Cy Coleman / Carolyn Leigh
11 You Fascinate Me So 2:51
Cy Coleman / Carolyn Leigh
12 Rules of the Road 2:11
Cy Coleman / Carolyn Leigh
Credits
Arranged By, Piano – Bobby Short (tracks: All)
Bass – Beverly Peer (tracks: All)
Drums – Dick Sheridan (tracks: All Except 7), Gene Gammage (tracks: 7)
Percussion – Valdo Ramirez (tracks: All), Willie Rodriguez (tracks: All)
Written-By – Carolyn Leigh (tracks: All Except 7), Cy Coleman (tracks: All), Dorothy Fields (tracks: 7)

BOBBY SHORT - My Personal Property 

[1963] Atlantic / CBR320 / scans

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JOSÉPHINE BAKER - Encores Américaines [1951] Columbia / LP / FLAC

Josephine Baker's "Encores Americaines," released by Columbia Records in 1951.

The album was released by Columbia Records in 1951 at a time when Baker was finally receiving some acceptance as a black female artist in her native country. She had left the United States in the 1920s amid grinding racism, settled in Paris and then became a French citizen in 1937. She was loved by the people of Paris, playing its venues like the star they had made her, and making several movies. “I felt liberated in Paris,” she said.

She chose France as her new country a year after a disastrous return to the United States in the “Zeigfield Follies” on Broadway. The 1936 play was a flop, she did not get kind reviews, and she was devastated, according to an account on the Josephine Baker website. She wanted her native country to love her back, but it would be more than a decade later (1951) before she would feel partly welcomed – and even longer (1973) before she would feel comfortably welcomed.

The back cover with liner notes from Josephine Baker's "Encores Americaines."

According to the album’s liner notes, she returned to the United States in a revue after World War II – one site noted that she was here in 1948 – but the show ended in Boston. By the third time, 1951, the country apparently was a tad more ready for her.

She performed at the Strand Theater on Broadway in a show that led to a national tour. Life magazine reported that she was “singing love songs in five languages and making the Strand movie theater seem intimate as a boudoir.” The Life article included a number of Alfred Eisenstaedt photos of Baker, with captions noting her expensive and elaborate costumes.

The record album at auction included such songs as “Brazil,” “Besame Mucho,” “Afraid to Dream,” and “I’m Feeling Like a Million.” It did not include her signature song “J’ai Deux Amours” (“Two Loves Have I”), whose lyrics, according to the 2010 book “The Guest List,” referred to Paris and Africa (not America). She first recorded it for Columbia in 1930, in the thick of her heyday years in Paris, where she was even honored with dolls in her image (including a Lenci doll in 1926).

While Baker was in the United States in 1951, the NAACP honored her by designating May 20, 1951 as Josephine Baker Day for her civil rights work. She rode in a 25-car motorcade through Harlem that, according to the Amsterdam News newspaper, drew 100,000 people.

A list of songs from the album "Encores Americaines" by Josephine Baker.

Baker’s 1973 performance at Carnegie Hall must have been the crowning achievement for her. According to the Josephine Baker website, she was still not sure if she would be fully accepted and acknowledged. She got her answer: The audience gave her a standing ovation before she even began to sing.

The rider notes on the back of the 1951 album outlined Baker’s appeal to Parisians, her humble origins in America and her return visits to perform in this country. It also offered this confounding query:

“Just why Josephine Baker should have been the darling of Parisians for twenty years without exciting her native land is one of those questions that forever worry theatrical historians.”

1 - Besame mucho
2 - The loveliness of you
3 - J'ai un message pour toi
(A message from the man in the moon)
4 - I'm feelin' like a million
5 - Nuits de Miami (Moon over Miami)
6 - Afraid to dream
7 - Partir sur un bateau tout blanc
(That lovely night in Budapest)
8 - Brazil (Aquarela do Brasil)

 

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