Lurlean Hunter on CD At Long Last
10/08/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Lurlean Hunter and Betty Bennett are excellent jazz-oriented singers who launched their careers in the fifties. If rock hadn't taken over the pop music scene about then, I'd wager that Lulean's name might now be as familiar as Ella or Sarah or Peggy who launched their careers in early, more favorable times.Lurlean is a joy to listen to whether she is singing a ballad or swinging up tempo. Her delivery is assured, womanly, sophisticated, her alto voice, warm and flowing. There is not a bad performance on the reissue of this 1960 Atlantic recording. The material is tops, songs like Crazy He Calls Me and As Long As I Live. The arrangements are by Jimmy Giuffre for a septet featuring Jimmy Jones on piano, Bud Freeman on tenor, Rudy Rutherford on trumpet, Jim Hall on bass, and Don Lamond on drums. I first heard Lurlean Hunter singing in a club on Chicago's Rush Street in the mid-fifties, and subsequently saw her at clubs in Detroit and Toronto. She never disappointed. She originally recorded for RCA, and subsequently was featured on Arthur Godfrey's radio show. (Whoever owns RCA masters should get busy and reissue her work, and other gems, such as many of Fran Warren's singles for that label, like "Cloudy Morning".)Betty Bennett sang with many of the best big bands in the days of their waning popularity. Her LP debut (one of my favorite LPs) was a beautiful collection of ballads on Trend, with strings and woodwinds conducted by her ex-husband, Andre Previn. Her Atlantic LP, which is reissued here, is not quite up to that standard, but includes some excellent performances, such as the title song, Nobody Else But Me. I prefer her ballads to her up-tempo work. Amazon has provided sound sample of her work, but should also have given its customers a chance to listen to Lurlean Hunter as well."
Rediscovered gems
Dion Wright | 04/11/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Band singer Betty Bennett has all but been forgotten except for having been married to Andre Previn. Her long-lost Atlantic album reveals an assured vocalist with eclectic taste in songs backed by topflight arrangements and instrumentalists. Lurlean Hunter, who died young, has never been forgotten and what a joy finally to have her Atlantic LP (please note, RCA). This sophisticated, savvy, thorough pro makes her way through topnotch material, also with enviable accompaniment. Everything she touches turns gold. I agree; had Lurlean lived and rock not taken over, she'd be right up there with all the greats. Almost every jazz singer I ever met (and I've met many) considers Lurlean one of the great talents. You will absolute love this remarkable CD--roses to whoever had brains enough to get it released."
Down for Double
Dion Wright | Flagstaff, AZ | 01/21/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I only bother to write five star reviews, and in this case I am pleased to have two singers on one CD who both deserve the maximum applause. I bought the CD unheard in my general absorbtion of big band female vocalists, and am knocked out by this tandem offering. They are quite different singers from one another, but both extreme examples of vocal excellence, set in cool arrangements. The great chart and clarinet artist, Jimmy Giuffre, plays on the Betty Bennett offering (along with her then-husband, Andre Previn) and did the Lurlean Hunter arrangements, which feature that ubiquitous muted trumpet genius, Harry "Sweets" Edison, show-cased on every cut. I hope that we will see the like of these women again in life, but the prospect doesn't look too good at the present time. Nobody wants to be lost, fossil-like, in the past, but some of the past is so bloody good, that it remains contemporary: the index of a classic. Like Betty and Lurlean. My pole star in this bag is Peggy Lee, and these two ladies can run with her."
Track Listings (23) - Disc #1