Big Bill Broonzy (LP) Last Session Part One (1957) Verve 3001 (1959)

Big Bill Broonzy
Last Session Part One
Verve 3001
Released 1959
Recorded July 1957
Produced & Directed by Bill Randle  

 

Recommended ****


The first of three sets Verve released in 1959, all recorded July 1957.  The day after the sessions, Broonzy would enter the hospital with lung cancer, and he’d be gone before the release of these albums.

Classic collection of acoustic blues, all good with several highlights including “Southbound Train,” “Joe Turner Blues,” and “I Ain’t Gon’ Be Treated This Way.”

Antonio Carlos Jobim (LP) The Composer of Desafinado, Plays (1963) Verve V6-8547

Antonio Carlos Jobim
The Composer of Desafinado, Plays
Verve V6-8547
1963
Produced by Creed Taylor
Arranged by Claus Ogerman 

 

Recommended ****


Jobim’s first U.S. album, every cut a Jobim original, every one on its way to becoming a standard, quite the feat for the man from Rio, here backed with breezy Ogerman arrangements, produced by Creed with his signature swatches of flute and such, Jobim on piano and guitar, some improvisation but mostly just simple presentations of some beautiful tunes from Brazil.

— winch