Back to the Blues

The Queen, as she was known in jazz circles, was a cross-over artist. Universal acclaim came when her What a Difference a Day Makes hit the charts in 1960 but R & B fans had followed her career from the 1940s. In point of fact, Dinah was a blues singer at heart, nurtured in the storefront Gospel churches of Chicago and tutored in bands such as Lionel Hampton's. Once she hit the big time on the Mercury label she found herself bifurcated, the Emarcy jazz recordings kept her in the jazz camp but the Mercury albums pushed her into the pop realm with its Doggy in the Window syndrome. Even here, in the best of her blues on the later Roulette label you can detect the overproduction in the Elvis shoobop flavor of He's a Good Ole Wagon. But like all the greats she pulls away from the mediocre like a thoroughbred from the starting gate. Nobody Knows the Way I Feel This Morning, an eight minute gem sung in the context of a small group of sterling sidemen exhibits a voice that rises and falls like a trumpet announcing Armageddon, one which freed from the encumbrance of strings soars in chorus after chorus just as the blues were meant to be sung.

-Spencer Bennett

Prior to her 1959 hit "What a Difference a Day Makes," nearly every Dinah Washington recording (no matter what the style) was of interest to jazz listeners. However, after her unexpected success on the pop charts, most of Washington's sessions for Mercury and Roulette during the last four years of her life were quite commercial, with string arrangements better suited to country singers and Dinah nearly parodying herself with exaggerated gestures. Fortunately, this 1997 CD reissue brings back an exception, a lues-oriented collection that features Washington returning to her roots, backed by a jazz-oriented ig band (although with occasional strings and background voices); in addition to the original program, there are previously unreleased versions of "No One Man" and "Me and My Gin." Eddie Chamblee and Illinois Jacquet have some tenor solos, guitarist Billy Butler is heard from and the trumpet soloist is probably Joe Newman. In general, this is a more successful date than Dinah Washington's earlier investigation of Bessie Smith material, since the backup band is more sympathetic and the talented singer is heard in prime form. Dinah Washington clearly had a real feeling for this bluesy material. ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide