Sarah Vaughan - Snowbound - 180g Vinyl LP

Vinyl LP

Wrapped in the soothing strings of arranger Don Costa, Sarah Vaughan recorded an unsurprisingly dreamy ballads collection titled "Snowbound". Despite the peaceful atmosphere and strolling tempo, Vaughan hardly treats the material as a cinch for her voice; all of these 11 songs find her searching for different ways to present time-worn standards. The opening title track is one of the warmest, most romantic songs on the LP, Vaughan plumbing the depths of her alto and nearly perfecting her humming vibrato. She also selects an obscure tune from the Gershwins' ("Blah, Blah, Blah", understandably overlooked but fun nevertheless) and, near the end, turns from cozy ballads into a mini-suite of forlorn material: "I Fall in Love Too Easily", "Glad to Be Unhappy", and "Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most". "Snowbound" is an overlooked gem from Sarah Vaughan's Roulette years.

"On “I Remember You” Sarah shows her ability to bend a vocal or extend with vibrato, a vocal phrase. Her voice was in her prime, and it is a joy today to hear her make each song her own. The remastering by Sean Magee, done at the iconic Abbey Road Studios, is firstrate. The strings and woodwinds are mixed perfectly for listening as they are perfectly set on the sound stage leaving Vaughan upfront, but neither overwhelming, nor so distant as to be irrelevant. For fans of Ms. Vaughan, Snowbound would be a welcome addition to their collection of this jazz vocalist supreme." - Jeff Krow, www.audaud.com, 4 Stars!!