Birth of a star
05/29/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This was Ann Richards' first L.P. for Capitol, a shining example of how to do a jazz album. Great songs, great big band arrangements and singing that shoots high to say the least. A right-down-the-track album start to finish. The lady has taste, a beautiful voice and lotsa brains and savvy. The album didn't do much so Capitol tried again with "The Many Moods of Ann Richards." Another great collection. It didn't do much so they tried again with Ann and the Stan Kenton Orchestra with "Two Much!," a fabulous album which did very well indeed. Ann was Mrs. Kenton for a time. She went on to Atco and finally Vee-Jay but never broke out as she should have. She died disappointed. This album won't disappoint YOU."
Underrated singer; forgotten classic
Charlie Brown | Mars, CA United States | 09/26/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Ann Richards was one of the joys of vocal jazz - an exuberant singer with a spicy, brassy style who inspires a love of music and of life. If you dig Billie or Ella, Ann will thrill you with a markedly different approach. She has a trumpet-like conception in contrast to Ella's more tenor-sax evocative style. Instead of Billie's profound melancholy, Ann seems to be saying, "here I am, world! Let's have fun!" This CD is a beautiful remastering job of her very first album from 1957. The big-band arrangements are reminiscent of Kenton, with whom Ann had worked, and they suit her very well. Her renditions of "Will You Still Be Mine" and the title track are the musical equivalent of a fine gourmet coffee - you get a very pleasant buzz. So tragic that her life did not turn out to be what this record promises. I wish she was still with us. But her few albums are testimony to her unique musical personality, and they all should be given the loving treatment so evident on this exemplary reissue."
Track Listings (12) - Disc #1