Remastered by Ray Staff at Air Mastering, Lyndhurst Hall, London

With a voice as rich as chocolate cream and twice as smooth comes The Divine Sarah in a collection of some of her most distinctive offerings. As a group of songs, they are all securely placed in the upper brackets, and as vehicles for the highly personalized artistry of Sarah Vaughan they are even more secure. Secure is hardly the word for Sarah, however, for she occupies a niche in popular song that no one else has come within challenging distance.

Sarah's serenade in this instance strongly suggests the post-midnight hours, both in content and mood. Before being collected into this program, any of these performances caused a happy stir among her many fans, and when they can be surveyed consecutively, they show here to be a songstress of genuinely unique imagination and attainment, one whose voice is fully equal to the complex demands she makes on it, and one who is fully in control of her material as well. No matter how far she sometimes strays from the melodic line, there is never the slightest doubt that she knows exactly where she is going, nor that she will wind up exactly where she wants to be.

On this LP we hear her sail through a series of smoothly orchestrated pop tunes. Even the version of Gershwin's "Summertime" is given the uptempo treatment. This might have been a collection of rather commercial standards, but she gives them a soulfulness that raises them above the level of just another pop song. She might not be as emotionally raw as Billie Holiday, but that doesn't stop her from being able to imbue even the simplest of songs with the heart necessary to make them soar.

Features:
• 180g vinyl reissue from Pure Pleasure
• Mastered by Ray Staff at Air London
• Remastered using pure analogue components only from the master tapes through to the cutting head
• Pressed at Pallas