December 1998
Of course, JVC has a way with sound, and neither of these CDs can be considered anything but very good. Both display the characteristic XRCD smoothness -- the notes seem to flow more organically -- and high resolution. Crazy and Mixed Up is an XRCD2, a second-generation remastering from JVC, and I can’t say for sure that the newer process makes for a better-sounding recording. Even so, it is the more intimate of the two, while How Long Has This Been Going On? has more air and ambience. Vaughan’s voice can bring out the worst in an audio system, overly exciting the upper-midrange region that’s the Achilles heel of poor digital. Here, however, she sounds great, perhaps as good as you’ll hear her, digital or analog. Listening to these CDs makes me wonder how popular Sarah Vaughan would be today if she were alive and in her prime. Modern-day jazz divas such as Diana Krall and Cassandra Wilson rely as much on the artistic posture of their deliveries, which they have cultivated very well, as Vaughan does on her ability to crawl into a song and interpret it on its own terms. These times seem to demand diversity and quirkiness more than simple craftsmanship, but a talent as large as Vaughan’s would certainly be understood and praised. And we have these two fine remastered recordings as proof. Both offer a full dose of Sarah mixed with audiophile-grade sound that only enhances the performances. GO BACK TO: |
Sarah Vaughan - How Long
Has This Been Going On? (Remastered)
Sarah Vaughan - Crazy and Mixed Up (Remastered)![[Reviewed on CD]](../format/regcd.gif)
These
two recordings, made four years apart, are different in one significant way, their
producers. How Long Has This Been Going On? (1978), with an all-star lineup
of Oscar Peterson, Joe Pass, Ray Brown and Louie Bellson, was produced by veteran Norman
Granz. Crazy and Mixed Up (1982), which includes Pass on guitar, but Roland Hanna
on piano, Andy Simpkins on bass, and Harold Jones on drums, was produced by Vaughan
herself, the first and only time this occurred. Hence, Crazy and Mixed Up is less a
recording that Vaughan contributed to and more a personal statement. She consistently
sings into the songs on Crazy and Mixed Up, treating "Seasons,"
for example, as though it’s her own, definitively. In contrast, on "I’ve
Got the World on a String," the first track on How Long Has This Been Going On?, Peterson
and Pass are more obtrusive and not merely musician helpers. The artistic effect is no
less intense, but Vaughan shares the spotlight with the supporting cast. On Crazy and
Mixed Up, she’s the whole show.