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A DATE WITH DELLA REESE ji", SUPERLAPHONIC HI-FI

MR. KELLY’S IN CHICAGO

with Kirk Stuart trio

CHICAGO-SUN-TIMES, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20th, 1958

KUP'S COLUMN Part of my job is covering the night beat...

and its sounds in the night. I came across a

sound the other night that I’d like to tell you

about. It was the sound of Della Reese, record-

ing this album at Mister Kelly’s on Rush Street,

KUPCINET Chicago’s gay white way.

There was all the excitement of an opening night at this recording

session. The intimate spa was overflowing. There was a tingle in the air

as the statuesque Della rose front and center. Then came the cue from

musical accompanist Kirk Stuart . .

sounds that make this a memorable album.

Della Reese is like a breath of fresh air in today’s crazy, mixed-up

world of song. She’s a gal with a mission — a mission to lead us back

to sane music. No rock-n-roller, she. Della is soft-toned. Her delivery is

deliberate: and deft as a clef. Her enunciation is unusual — you can

understand the lyrics, without hysterics. And when the mood strikes, she

can swing ’way out.

You'll enjoy Della Reese and the sounds in the night recorded in

this album.

Irv Kupcinet

. and the air was filled with the .

There are 135 seats. Tables. More than 135 customers. A trio... . sitting on a pedestal half-way high up to the ceiling. It’s lit dim. This is Mr. Kelly’s... and all that jazz.

A tall girl pushes off from the doorway. She helloes her way through the broken field of tables and téte-a-tétes to the microphone. The music vamps. She is standing in the spotlight. Applause. She smiles. The music stops. The applause fades. It’s show-time . . . and the down-beat. This is Della Reese . . . “live”!

The genius who switched the cliche from “If I only had a camera . . .” to “Let’s record the album on the spot” rates the medals. I can’t find fact about the first time but the ‘spot’ since has been the London Palladium, Joe’s Greasy Spoon, Carnegie Hall, Birdland, the Hollywood Bowl and Mr. Kelly’s, Chicago. The peoples and their pleasures are as much a part of the recordings as the music and the star.

I figure not everybody in the world has made it to Mr. Kelly’s. But some great talents have bounced off the walls into a recording machine. This now is the style and talent that is Della Reese . . . and her show in the aura that is Mr. Kelly’s.

Della has a hold on heritage. Her narrative is lucid and personal. Each melodic story is punctuated with power and poignancy. She prettifies the pic- ture, attaches dramatic incident, runs her vocal fingers across your memories.

The programming has a forward drive. The pace surges. And throughout, Della dishes out shares of tradition . . . in the melange of music. She trips from the light, fantastically, to the weight of the ballad . . . from the ‘truth’ of the blues to the tempo of the time. The girl sings them the way she feels them... and makes you feel them the way she sings them.

This album was recorded on consecutive nights at Mr. Kelly’s . . . with part of the accompaniment changing face. The piano is Kirk Stewart, Della’s regular conductor and accompanist. Kirk, who is out of Chicago, is a recording star in his own right. He has the same feel for jazz in his playing as did another great jazz pianist .. . Nat “King” Cole. He has the same feel for singing as did another great singer . . .Nat“ King” Cole.

Add to Kirk’s piano, John Frigo on bass and Norman Jeffries on drums. That was one set. The next night it was Kirk with Dave Poskonka, bass and Jack Noren, drums. The rhythm is so right.

The room is so right. This is Della Reese and her second album. This is ‘style.’ Honest . . . gospel-singing honest. Della papers the room with pleasure from the top of the show to the ad-lib “the ball is over.”

Della Reese has put a large vocal down-payment on Mr. Kelly’s lease. . notes by MORT GOODE

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SIDE 1

SOMETIMES I’M HAPPY (Irving Caesar-Vincent Youmans: Harms, Inc. ASCAP) T:57 HAPPINESS IS A THING CALLED JOE (E. Y. Harburg-Harold Arlen: Leo Feist, Inc. ASCAP) 4:07 ALMOST LIKE BEING IN LOVE (Alan Jay Lerner-Frederick Lowe: Sam Fox Pub. Co. ASCAP) 2:00 SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER ME (Ira Gershwin-George Gershwin: New World Music Corp. ASCAP) 3:58 THE BIRTH OF THE BLUES (B. G. De Sylva-Lew Brown-Ray Henderson: Harms, Inc. ASCAP) 2:43 PENNIES FROM HEAVEN (John Burke-Arthur Johnston: Joy Music, Inc. ASCAP) 1:48

SIDE 2

GETTING TO KNOW YOU (Richard Rodgers-Oscar Hammerstein: Williamson Music, Inc. ASCAP) 1:56 IF I FORGET YOU (Irving Caesar: Irving Caesar: ASCAP) 3:12 ALL OF ME (Seymour Simmons-Gerald Marks: Bourne, Inc. ASCAP) 1:45 THE NEARNESS OF YOU (Ned Washington-Hoagy Carmichael: Famous Music Corp. ASCAP) 3:18 JUST ONE OF THOSE THINGS (Cole Porter: Harms, Inc. ASCAP) 3700) THE PARTY’S OVER (Betty Comden-Adolph Green-Jule Styne: Stratford Music Corp. ASCAP) 1:40

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Produced by: Morty Palitz Cover Design: Si Leichman Cever Photo by: Don Bronstein

JUBILEE RECORDS - 315 W. 47th St., New York, N. Y. A Product of Jay-Gee Record Co., Inc.

Cover and Liner Printed by MacMurray Press, N. Y.

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