Born Betty Waddell in Columbus, Ohio, singer Betty St. Claire (1927-1972) was hailed as a “find” when, aged 14, she made her professional debut at the Detroit Club Congo. It led to theatre and club work throughout the Mid-West and the East and, eventually, a place with Dizzy Gillespie’s 1949 big band, as well as jobs with other leading jazz groups like Erroll Garner’s trio and Howard McGhee’s quintet. Musically speaking she was quickly dining at the top table.
She brought to it some striking assets - great time, a warm, illuminating and inviting way with lyrics, and an innately musical approach. They were all wrapped in an attractively husky, even lusty, voice that placed her, as a stylist, in a spot somewhere between Anita O’Day and June Christy that she made her own.
Moving to New York she worked the nightclub circuit and 1955 debuted on record with a program of varied, sophisticated standards on two 10” albums. Made for Jubilee, they confirmed her quality in the company of some of the Big Apple’s most capable jazzmen, among them Phil Sunkel, Billy Byers, Hal McKusick, Jimmy Raney, Barry Galbraith and Addison Farmer. In 1959, now at Seeco, she was backed by a quartet that included jazz notables Mundell Lowe, George Duvivier and Ed Shaughnessy for a relaxed demonstration of her affinity with the Great American Songbook and jazz musicians. freshsound
Tracklist :
Hal McKusick Plays-Betty St. Claire Sings” (1955) 10* JLP15
1 Out Of Nowhere 2:15
Written-By – Heyman, Green
2 What Is There To Say? 3:35
Written-By – Harburg, Duke
3 Almost Like Being In Love 2:46
Written-By – Loewe-Lerner
4 Here Comes Trouble Again 3:22
Tracks #1-4: Phil Sunkel, trumpet; Billy Byers, trombone & arrangements; Hal McKusick, clarinet & alto sax; Gene DiNovi, piano; Jimmy Raney, guitar; Clyde Lombardi, bass; Jimmy Campbell, drums.
Recorded in New York City, January 1955
Cool and Clearer (1955) 10* JLP 1011
5 That Old Black Magic 2:28
Written-By – Arlen-Mercer
6 East Of The Sun 2:29
Written-By – Bowman
7 I Hadn't Anyone Till You 2:18
Written-By – Noble
8 Prelude To A Kiss 3:58
Written-By – Duke Ellington, Irving Gordon, Irving Mills
9 Why Try To Change Me Now 3:18
Written-By – Cy Coleman, Joseph McCarthy
10 My One And Only Love 4:14
Written-By – G. & I. Gershwin
11 Skylark 3:16
Written-By – Carmichael, Mercer
12 Give Me The Simple Life 1:58
Written-By – Harry Ruby, Rube Bloom
Tracks #5-12: Eddie Swanson, piano; Barry Galbraith, guitar; Addison Farmer, bass; Herbie Lovelle, drums.
Recorded in New York City, March 1955
"At Basin Street East” (1959)
13 You Took Advantage Of Me 2:47
Written-By – Rodgers-Hart
14 Moonlight In Vermont 3:33
Written-By – Blackburn, Suessdorf
15 Ah! Sweet Mystery Of Life 2:59
Written-By – Rida Johnson Young, Victor Herbert 
16 'Tis Autumn 3:45
Written-By – Nemo
17 June's A Word 2:25
Written-By – Velona
18 Lonelyville 3:18
Written-By – Hal Hackady, Walter Marks
19 You Turned The Tables On Me 2:04
Written-By – Louis Alter, Sidney Mitchell
20 You're Laughing At Me 3:45
Written-By – Berlin
21 Crazy Rhythm Caesar 3:18
Written-By – Caesar, Meyer, Cahn
22 Easy To Say 4:20
23 I Get A Kick Out Of You 2:12
Written-By – Porter
24 Like Someone In Love 3:10
Written-By – Van Heusen - Burke
Tracks #13-24: Stan Free, piano; Mundell Lowe, guitar; George Duvivier, bass; Ed Shaughnessy, drums.
Recorded in New York City, December 1959
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 
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