Verve Select Offers “Divine” Selection of Sarah Vaughan LPs on CD

The latest from Verve Select, released earlier this week, is a collection of over a half-dozen vintage albums by jazz legend Sarah Vaughan on four discs.

Divine: The Jazz Albums encapsulates Vaughan’s first round on the Mercury label, after finding earlier success for the previous decade on first the Musicraft label (where she cut hit versions of “Tenderly” and “Nature Boy”) and later for Columbia Records, a run characterized by contemporary pop balladry. Once signed to Mercury, she was determined to get back to jazz, and thanks to producer Bob Shad and a stable of killer backing musicians including Clifford Brown, Herbie Mann, Cannonball Adderley and The Count Basie Orchestra, she did just that.

Divine showcases several releases from this glorious period: the 10″ album Images (1954), the tracks added to that program in 1957 to become Swingin’ Easy, 1954’s self-titled album, 1955’s In the Land of Hi-Fi and No Count Sarah (1958) (so named for the album’s ensemble being Basie’s orchestra sans its leader) and two live sets: 1957’s At Mister Kelly’s (featuring nine bonus tracks from a Japanese expansion in 2001) and After Hours at The London House (1959). Vaughan would retreat to Roulette Records for a brief period, but returned from 1964 to 1967.

Featuring liner notes by acclaimed writer/critic Will Friedwald, track-by-track annotations and deluxe packaging featuring great sleeves and designs from Vaughan’s Mercury LP, EP and single discography, Divine can be ordered after the jump, where you’ll of course also find the track list!

The Man From Utopia: Edsel Reissues Kasim Sulton’s Solo Debut

This week, Todd Rundgren has released his most recent studio album, State. Edsel Records has recently given longtime Rundgren fans the chance to revisit the first solo LP from one of Todd’s longest-serving sidemen, Kasim Sulton. Edsel’s reissue of 1982’s EMI America album Kasim is available now.

Sulton, a bassist and singer, joined Todd Rundgren’s Utopia for its fifth, longest-lasting incarnation. This four-piece Utopia line-up of Rundgren, Sulton, keyboardist Roger Powell and drummer John “Willie” Wilcox, formed in 1976 and released five albums between 1977 and 1982. While in Utopia, Sulton played and sang on Meat Loaf’s 1977 Bat Out of Hell for producer Rundgren, and formed an association with Meat Loaf that lasted well into the 21st century. It was Sulton who wrote Utopia’s only Top 40 single with 1980’s “Set Me Free,” and that song’s success led the session pro and band stalwart to take its title to heart. Feeling constrained by the limitations of the band, he departed in search of solo stardom. The result was Kasim.

There’s more after the jump, including the full track listing with discography, and order links!

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You Are Needed Now: Omnivore Reissues Two Townes Van Zandt LPs

Joe rightly had much words of praise for Sunshine Boy: The Unheard Studio Sessions and Demos 1971-1972, Omnivore’s paean to underrated country singer/songwriter Townes Van Zandt. To hear Van Zandt’s works, including “Pancho & Lefty,” “To Live is to Fly” and others in newly discovered alternate and stripped-down forms on two discs, was a revelation to even the most hardcore fan of the late performer.

Now, Omnivore has taken the logical next step and will reissue High, Low and In Between (1971) and The Late Great Townes Van Zandt (1972), two of his most enduring albums and the ones most prominently covered by Sunshine Boy. Packed with original songs, including “You Are Not Needed Now,” “Blue Ridge Mountains,” “If I Needed You” and signature tune “Pancho & Lefty” (later a hit for Emmylou Harris as well as Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson, who named an album after the song); great production from longtime associates Kevin Eggers and Jack Clement and strong session work from noted players like Larry Carlton (Joni Mitchell, Steely Dan) and Don Randi (keyboardist for The Wrecking Crew), these albums finally get the due they’ve deserved for over 40 years.

Featuring new liner notes from Colin Escott, who penned liners for Sunshine Boy, these two albums will be available on both CD and 180-gram LP formats. For the vinyl, the first 1,000 copies will be pressed on orange and clear-colored vinyl, respectively, with all other copies on standard black. The new editions are available May 21 and can each be ordered below.

High, Low and In Between (originally released as Poppy LP PYS 5700, 1971 – reissued Omnivore, 2013)

CD / LP

1. Two Hands
2. You Are Not Needed Now
3. Greensboro Woman
4. Highway Kind
5. Standin’
6. No Deal
7. To Live is to Fly
8. When He Offers His Hand
9. Mr. Mudd & Mr. Gold
10. Blue Ridge Mountains
11. High, Low and In Between

The Late Great Townes Van Zandt (originally released as Poppy LP PP-LA004-F, 1972 – reissued Omnivore, 2013)

CD / LP

1. No Lonesome Tune
2. Sad Cinderella
3. German Mustard (A Clapalong)
4. Don’t Let the Sunshine Fool Ya’
5. Honky Tonkin’
6. Snow Don’t Fall
7. Fraulein
8. Pancho and Lefty
9. If I Needed You
10. Silver Ships of Andilar
11. Heavenly Houseboat Blues