Singer Maxine Sullivan gets top billing on this CD reissue, and she has delightful vocals on 11 of the selections, but there are also 15 instrumentals by the "backup group," the John Kirby Sextet, as Sullivan was married to the bassist/leader at the time. In addition to the title cut (a remake of her biggest hit), she is in fine form on a variety of folk-oriented songs, including two versions of "If I Had a Ribbon Bow." However, it is the sextet features that are of greatest interest. The classic early cool jazz group ...
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Singer Maxine Sullivan gets top billing on this CD reissue, and she has delightful vocals on 11 of the selections, but there are also 15 instrumentals by the "backup group," the John Kirby Sextet, as Sullivan was married to the bassist/leader at the time. In addition to the title cut (a remake of her biggest hit), she is in fine form on a variety of folk-oriented songs, including two versions of "If I Had a Ribbon Bow." However, it is the sextet features that are of greatest interest. The classic early cool jazz group (bassist Kirby, trumpeter Charlie Shavers, clarinetist Buster Bailey, altoist Russell Procope, pianist Billy Kyle and drummer Cozy Cole, who had replaced O'Neil Spencer) romps through such unlikely but swinging tunes as "Humoresque," "Haydn Gets Hip," "Bounce of the Sugar Plum Fairy" and "Amapola." These selections were originally recorded as radio transcriptions for the Lang-Worth service, and they are important additions to the discographies of both Kirby and Sullivan. ~ Scott Yanow, Rovi
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