JOHNNY HARTMAN - The Complete Bethlehem Sessions
Essential Jazz Classics EJC55669 (2 CD Set)
CD One
Tracks 1 to 18
Songs From the Heart
Johnny Hartman ( vocals ) Howard McGhee ( tpt ) Ralph Sharon ( pno ) Jay Cave ( bass ) Christy Fabbo ( drs )
Recorded New York, October 1955
Tracks 19 to 22
Johnny Hartman ( vocals ) Erroll Garner ( pno ) Leonard Gaskin ( bass ) Charlie Smith ( drs )
Recorded New York, 23rd August 1949
Tracks 23 to 24
Johnny Hartman ( vocals ) with the Dizzy Gillespie Orchestra
Arrangements by Dizzy Gillespie & Jimmy Mundy
Recorded New York, 14th April 1949
CD Two
Tracks 1 to 16
Johnny Hartman ( vocals ) with Ernie Royal ( tpt ) Howard McGhee ( tpt )Frank Rehak ( tmb ) Anthony Ortega ( alto ) Lucky Thompson ( tnr ) Jerome Richardson ( tnr / flute ) Danny Bank ( bar ) Hank Jones ( pno ) Milt Hinton ( bass ) Osie Johnson ( drs )
Tracks 1, 6, 10, 12 & 16 Ernie Wilkins ( cond / arr )
Recorded New York, November 1956
Tracks 2 to 5, 7 to 9 &11 Frank Hunter ( arr / con )
Recorded New York, late 1956
Tracks 17 to 22
Johnny Hartman ( vocals ) with the Earl Hines Orchestra
Recorded Chicago 1947 & New York , 1953
Tracks 23 to 24
Johnny Hartman ( vocals ) with the Dizzy Gillespie Orchestra
Recorded Chicago & New York 1949
Johnny Hartman never really made his mark on UK record collectors except perhaps for his lauded recording with John Coltrane which attracted attention because he was the singer Coltrane recorded with.
Hartman has a deep rich voice which falls somewhere between Dick Haymes and Billy Eckstine and his choice of material is some what similar.
This two CD collection brings two early Hartman albums together, “Songs From The Heart” and “All Of Me” plus a number of bonus tracks and alternative takes. His selection of material is a good cross section of the Great American Songbook and also includes a number of not so well known songs.
Howard McGhee’s trumpet playing fits well into the late night listening mode on the CD One and Ralph Sharon’s piano backing is ideally suited to Hartman’s delivery.
The stand out tracks are “When You’re Has Gone”, “I’m Glad There is You” and “They Didn’t Believe Me”.
The four tracks with the Erroll Garner Trio are a joy with “Remember” being the stand out track. Unfortunately Garner didn’t record prolifically with singers the only ones are probably the album he recorded with Woody Herman on vocals and the handful of tracks with Earl Coleman on the Charlie Parker session.
The four tracks where Hartman is accompanied by the Dizzy Gillespie Orchestra, two on CD One and two on CD Two fall a little short as the Orchestra and Hartman are not really compatible.
CD Two contains the complete album “All of Me” which has two distinct types of backing with half the tracks which have Hartman accompanied by a medium sized band with arrangements by Ernie Wilkins which finds the singer in a swinging mode with some highly charged solos. The balance of the tracks have a lush string backing arranged and conducted by Frank Hunter.
Swingers like “Blue Skies” and “All of Me” are balanced by more ballad like numbers such as “I Concentrate On You” and “The End of a Love Affair”
The six tracks with Earl Hines vary between big band backing and a couple with a small group. The highlight on ”Ain’t Misbehavin’” some fine piano by Earl Hines and “A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody” has a hard hitting tenor solo by Morris Lane but the track is spoilt by a pretty dire choir.
The Fifties was a golden period for singers and many were overlooked so don’t let this release pass you by.
Reviewed by Roy Booth
Essential Jazz Classics EJC55669 (2 CD Set)
CD One
Tracks 1 to 18
Songs From the Heart
Johnny Hartman ( vocals ) Howard McGhee ( tpt ) Ralph Sharon ( pno ) Jay Cave ( bass ) Christy Fabbo ( drs )
Recorded New York, October 1955
Tracks 19 to 22
Johnny Hartman ( vocals ) Erroll Garner ( pno ) Leonard Gaskin ( bass ) Charlie Smith ( drs )
Recorded New York, 23rd August 1949
Tracks 23 to 24
Johnny Hartman ( vocals ) with the Dizzy Gillespie Orchestra
Arrangements by Dizzy Gillespie & Jimmy Mundy
Recorded New York, 14th April 1949
CD Two
Tracks 1 to 16
Johnny Hartman ( vocals ) with Ernie Royal ( tpt ) Howard McGhee ( tpt )Frank Rehak ( tmb ) Anthony Ortega ( alto ) Lucky Thompson ( tnr ) Jerome Richardson ( tnr / flute ) Danny Bank ( bar ) Hank Jones ( pno ) Milt Hinton ( bass ) Osie Johnson ( drs )
Tracks 1, 6, 10, 12 & 16 Ernie Wilkins ( cond / arr )
Recorded New York, November 1956
Tracks 2 to 5, 7 to 9 &11 Frank Hunter ( arr / con )
Recorded New York, late 1956
Tracks 17 to 22
Johnny Hartman ( vocals ) with the Earl Hines Orchestra
Recorded Chicago 1947 & New York , 1953
Tracks 23 to 24
Johnny Hartman ( vocals ) with the Dizzy Gillespie Orchestra
Recorded Chicago & New York 1949
Johnny Hartman never really made his mark on UK record collectors except perhaps for his lauded recording with John Coltrane which attracted attention because he was the singer Coltrane recorded with.
Hartman has a deep rich voice which falls somewhere between Dick Haymes and Billy Eckstine and his choice of material is some what similar.
This two CD collection brings two early Hartman albums together, “Songs From The Heart” and “All Of Me” plus a number of bonus tracks and alternative takes. His selection of material is a good cross section of the Great American Songbook and also includes a number of not so well known songs.
Howard McGhee’s trumpet playing fits well into the late night listening mode on the CD One and Ralph Sharon’s piano backing is ideally suited to Hartman’s delivery.
The stand out tracks are “When You’re Has Gone”, “I’m Glad There is You” and “They Didn’t Believe Me”.
The four tracks with the Erroll Garner Trio are a joy with “Remember” being the stand out track. Unfortunately Garner didn’t record prolifically with singers the only ones are probably the album he recorded with Woody Herman on vocals and the handful of tracks with Earl Coleman on the Charlie Parker session.
The four tracks where Hartman is accompanied by the Dizzy Gillespie Orchestra, two on CD One and two on CD Two fall a little short as the Orchestra and Hartman are not really compatible.
CD Two contains the complete album “All of Me” which has two distinct types of backing with half the tracks which have Hartman accompanied by a medium sized band with arrangements by Ernie Wilkins which finds the singer in a swinging mode with some highly charged solos. The balance of the tracks have a lush string backing arranged and conducted by Frank Hunter.
Swingers like “Blue Skies” and “All of Me” are balanced by more ballad like numbers such as “I Concentrate On You” and “The End of a Love Affair”
The six tracks with Earl Hines vary between big band backing and a couple with a small group. The highlight on ”Ain’t Misbehavin’” some fine piano by Earl Hines and “A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody” has a hard hitting tenor solo by Morris Lane but the track is spoilt by a pretty dire choir.
The Fifties was a golden period for singers and many were overlooked so don’t let this release pass you by.
Reviewed by Roy Booth
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