DELLA REESE — Swing, Slow & Cha Cha Cha (2001) RM | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

This two-fer from BMG International features a pair of out of print Della Reese LPs: Swing Slow and Della Della Cha-Cha-Cha. Originally issued on RCA Victor in the early '60s, these 26 traditional pop songs include "Someday (You'll Want Me to Want You)," "Come on-A-My House," "Tea for Two," and "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend." This is a nice sampler of familiar items that should satisfy the needs of casual fans. Al Campbell
Tracklist :
1     Come on-A-My House 2:51    
Ross Bagdasarian / William Saroyan
2     Why Don't You Do Right? 2:48
Kansas Joe McCoy
3     Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend 2:55
Leo Robin / Jule Styne
4     When a Woman Loves a Man 3:06
Bernie Hanighen / Gordon Jenkins / Johnny Mercer
5     Baby Won't You Please Come Home 3:09    
Charles Warfield / Clarence Williams
6     You're Driving Me Crazy 2:30 
Walter Donaldson
7     I'm Beginning to See the Light 2:25
Duke Ellington / Don George / Johnny Hodges / Harry James
8     You're Nobody 'Till Somebody Loves You 3:49
James Cavanaugh / Russ Morgan / Larry Stock
9     It's So Nice to Have a Man Around the House 2:40
Harold Spina
10     Tea for Two 2:12
Irving Caesar / Vincent Youmans
11     Call Me 2:46
Belford Hendricks / Clyde Otis
12     I Get the Blues When It Rains 3:22    
Bruce Klauber / Harry Stoddard
13     There's Nothing Like a Boy 2:05        
14     Whatever Lola Wants 3:16
Richard Adler / Jerry Ross
15     Three O'Clock in the Morning 3:06
Julián Robledo
16     Daddy (Hey Daddy) 2:42    
17     I'm Just a Lucky So and So 2:42
Mack David / Duke Ellington
18     Let's Get Away from It All 2:27
Tom Adair / Matt Dennis
19     I'll Get By (As Long as I Have You) 2:37
Fred E. Ahlert / Roy Turk
20     And Nown 2:40    
Luigi Creatore
21     How Did He Look? 4:23    
Gladys Shelley / Abner Silver
22     Someday (You'll Want Me to Want You) 5:16
Jimmie Hodges
23     Won' Cha Come Home, Bill Bailey 3:10
Della Reese
24     The Most Beautiful Words 2:42
Stanley Lebowsky
25     Don't You Know 2:35
Bobby Worth
26     Not One Minute More 2:38
Hal Blair / Lucille "Lou" Dinning / Don Robertson

DELLA REESE - What Do You Know About Love? (1959) lp / M4A (tracks) lossless [16bits 44.1khz]

Under the direction and orchestration of Reg Owens, Della Reese recorded her fifth long-player for the Big Apple-based Jubilee label. Although the artist's background was deeply rooted in the gospel tradition, she was among the incipient female vocalists to have been able to maneuver deftly into the secular genre. What Do You Know About Love? (1959) contains a dozen torch-type ballads and standards from the Great American Songbook as well as the Mort Goode/Walter Scharf-penned title composition, which just so happens to commence the affair. The syrupy-sweet strings swell as they herald Reese's singular leads. Her sense of rhythmic precision, exacting diction, and even-keeled nature flies in the face of the foreboding and portent that are swathed in what comes off as an acerbic tone. "When I Fall in Love" is a gorgeous reminder of the heartfelt and empathetic side of Reese that is at times eclipsed if not overwhelmed by her animated nature. She unfurls each line with a passion that never comes to a boil, but rather is left to simmer just below the surface. To a similar degree, Reese draws the listener into her retelling of "Something I Dreamed Last Night," not to mention the gentle, demure yearning on the Duke Ellington classic "I Got It Bad." A decidedly strident feel empowers the Gus Kahn co-written "I'll Never Be the Same," which provides an interesting change from the typical "woe is me"-imbued renditions that many of her contemporaries could pull off so easily. "You Better Go Now" -- one of the least pretentious of Owens' scores -- gives Reese a chance to interject a bit more of herself than on the majority of the project. The slightly sassy unveiling of lines such as "...I like ya much too much, you have a way with you" is irresistible.
One criticism that can be leveled is a lack of selections that allow Reese's personality to rise -- at least not to a great extent. To wit, "Nobody's Baby" is rather somber, although she continuously proves that she can sell the "heart on the sleeve" approach heard here. Considerably better are the bluesy intonations of "I Never Knew." Seeming less tied down to the arrangement, she interjects a few off-the-cuff improvisations that likewise lend a personable quality to the interpretation. Not to be missed is the stirring "I Thought of You." The dramatic ability that Reese brings to the number arguably bests the vast majority of the earlier and comparatively popular versions. Another attitude-charged performance fuels "You Don't Know What Love Is" as she seethes with a vacillating temperament of empathy and derision -- a fine line that few can pull off so adeptly. As they had done with "I'll Never Be the Same," Owens and Reese delve once again into the Gus Kahn/Matt Melneck repertoire for the sensitive "I'm Thru with Love," which finds the singer at what is surely her most relaxed, as even her pacing feels less rigid. Suitably, "That's All There Is" concludes What Do You Know About Love? with the singer's expected persona intact (if not somewhat emotionally distant), a trait that would keep audiences coming back for more. In 2008, Collectors' Choice Music coupled this platter with the sacred outing Amen! -- making both available for the first time in decades. by Lindsay Planer  
Tracklist :
1     I'll Never Be the Same 2:13
Gus Kahn / Matty Malneck / Frank Signorelli
2     You Better Go Now 2:45
Irvin Graham / Bix Reichner
3     I'm Through With Love 3:19
Gus Kahn / Joseph A. "Fud" Livingston / Matty Malneck
4     I Got It Bad 3:21
Duke Ellington / Paul Francis Webster
5     What Do You Know About Love 3:10
Harry Revel
6     When I Fall in Love 3:13
Edward Heyman / Victor Young
7     Nobody's Baby 3:11
Milton Ager / Benny Davis / Lester Santly
8     I Never Knew 3:08
Gus Kahn / Ted Fio Rito
9     I Thought About You Last Night 2:10
Johnny Mercer
10     You Don't Know What Love Is 2:40
Gene DePaul / Don Raye
11     That's All There Is 2:22
Gordon Jenkins
12     Something I Dreamed Last Night 3:33
Sammy Fain / Herbert Magidson / Jack Yellen
Credits :
Vocals – Della Reese
Conductor [Orchestra Conducted By] – Reg Owen