MARIAN BRUCE - Halfway To Dawn / JACY PARKER - Spotlight on Jacy Parker
Fresh Sound Records FSR CD 888
Halfway To Dawn
Tracks 1 to 12
Marian Bruce ( vocals ) Joe Wilder ( tpt ) Jimmy Jones ( pno ) Everett Barksdale ( gtr ) Al Hall ( bass )
Recorded New York City, April 1958
Spotlight on Jacy Parker
Tracks 13 to 24
Jacy Parker ( vocals / pno ) Ernie Royal ( tpt ) Don Cinderella ( bass ) Sticks Evans or Roy James
( drs )
NewYork City, March 1962
Fresh Sounds Records appear to be making a feature of giving obscure vocalists from the past some exposure which is commendable but risky from a business point of view. The two singers on this release have one thing in common the two albums on this CD are the only albums they ever recorded. This begs the question were they so bad they were not worth another crack at success or were the sales figures not up to scratch?
Marian Bruce started out as a night club singer working in New York, Paris and London but after a period of illness and family commitments she was off the scene for some time. On her return to singing she found styles had changed and her career never really took off again.
The backing group on this release is flawless with the beautiful toned trumpet of Joe Wilder and Jimmy Jones on piano things couldn’t have been better. Her choice of material is thoughtful well known tunes but not over used songs like “Lucky To Be Me” “A Ship Without A Sail” a performed with an understanding of the lyrics. Marian Bruce has a fine voice and her phrasing of the lyrics is good but there is a little something in her performance which doesn’t quite hit the spot which is unfortunate.
There is much more of a jazz feel Jacy Parker’s singing and she also plays some very fine piano, and she led a piano trio in Chicago at the tender age of seventeen. In 1954 she moved to New York intending to study at Julliard but arrived too late for the start of the semester and decided to apply for her 802 card and then began to work the clubs. She then began singing thinking it would hopefully increase her chances of getting more gigs.
Her choice of material is pretty catholic and too much of the run of the mill which many singers tend to stick to. The album gets off to a swinging start with “I Thought About You” Jacy Parker sounds comfortable in the role as a singer and contributes a swinging piano as well.
The Little heard ballad “Here Comes Trouble Again” which opens with a beautiful piano introduction which is a successful track from begging to end.
Jacy Parker gives a sensitive reading to Kurt Weill’s “My Ship” and does not take it over the top as some singers are apt to do.
It’s a great pity Jacy Parker did not make any more albums as she showed lots of potential but there may be many more singers of equal quality who slipped through the net.
Reviewed by Roy Booth
Fresh Sound Records FSR CD 888
Halfway To Dawn
Tracks 1 to 12
Marian Bruce ( vocals ) Joe Wilder ( tpt ) Jimmy Jones ( pno ) Everett Barksdale ( gtr ) Al Hall ( bass )
Recorded New York City, April 1958
Spotlight on Jacy Parker
Tracks 13 to 24
Jacy Parker ( vocals / pno ) Ernie Royal ( tpt ) Don Cinderella ( bass ) Sticks Evans or Roy James
( drs )
NewYork City, March 1962
Fresh Sounds Records appear to be making a feature of giving obscure vocalists from the past some exposure which is commendable but risky from a business point of view. The two singers on this release have one thing in common the two albums on this CD are the only albums they ever recorded. This begs the question were they so bad they were not worth another crack at success or were the sales figures not up to scratch?
Marian Bruce started out as a night club singer working in New York, Paris and London but after a period of illness and family commitments she was off the scene for some time. On her return to singing she found styles had changed and her career never really took off again.
The backing group on this release is flawless with the beautiful toned trumpet of Joe Wilder and Jimmy Jones on piano things couldn’t have been better. Her choice of material is thoughtful well known tunes but not over used songs like “Lucky To Be Me” “A Ship Without A Sail” a performed with an understanding of the lyrics. Marian Bruce has a fine voice and her phrasing of the lyrics is good but there is a little something in her performance which doesn’t quite hit the spot which is unfortunate.
There is much more of a jazz feel Jacy Parker’s singing and she also plays some very fine piano, and she led a piano trio in Chicago at the tender age of seventeen. In 1954 she moved to New York intending to study at Julliard but arrived too late for the start of the semester and decided to apply for her 802 card and then began to work the clubs. She then began singing thinking it would hopefully increase her chances of getting more gigs.
Her choice of material is pretty catholic and too much of the run of the mill which many singers tend to stick to. The album gets off to a swinging start with “I Thought About You” Jacy Parker sounds comfortable in the role as a singer and contributes a swinging piano as well.
The Little heard ballad “Here Comes Trouble Again” which opens with a beautiful piano introduction which is a successful track from begging to end.
Jacy Parker gives a sensitive reading to Kurt Weill’s “My Ship” and does not take it over the top as some singers are apt to do.
It’s a great pity Jacy Parker did not make any more albums as she showed lots of potential but there may be many more singers of equal quality who slipped through the net.
Reviewed by Roy Booth
