Helen Humes (June 23, 1913 – September 9, 1981) was an American jazz and blues singer.
This L/P was recorded in 1960 and I am wondering why I have never heard of her before because , as the notes say's below she sounds like a young Ella which as soon as I heard this L/P that was my first thought......It does nothing to take away the fact that she was a fine underrated singer that I feel should have been more popular....
Humes was a teenage blues singer, a vocalist with Count Basie's band, a saucy R&B diva, and a mature interpreter of the classy popular song. Along with other well-known jazz singers of the swing era, Humes helped to shape and define the sound of vocal swing music.
Humes's vocal range was from G3 to C5, as she stated in a letter to the arranger Buck Clayton in preparation for a European tour, along with a list of her preferred songs. According to many critics, her voice was versatile, suiting pop songs and ballads as well as blues. She was compared to Ethel Waters and Mildred Bailey from early in her career and was often recorded singing the blues after her association with Basie. In an interview with the jazz critic Whitney Balliett, Humes explained, "I've been called a blues singer, a jazz singer, and a ballad singer – well, I'm all three, which means I'm just a singer." A review from Downbeat Magazine of her albums Talk of the Town, Helen Comes Back, and Helen Humes with Red Norvo and His Orchestra said the following about her collaboration with Red Norvo:
Norvo's sparkling vibes are the ideal compliment to Helen's lithe, light timbered clarity…Helen is in particularly fine voice…with an uncanny resemblance to early Ella [Fitzgerald] in her sound and phrasing.
1. If I Could Be With You.
👍 !
ReplyDelete