Judith Owen on Blossom Dearie

[@mecca777]

two things: 1. I love Blosom's voice; and her whole style. 2. Damn I love a jazz singing redhead woman!!

[@cynthiagoldstein1133]

You're amazing, Judith - and such a beautiful homage to Dame Dearie.

[@deborahkent3852]

Interesting I always like to hear what is behind a song , I love blossom

[@tudormiller887]

I've recently purchased a compilation album of her songs from the 50s & 60s, even The Blue Stars Of France stuff. As Miles Davies once said of her. "She's the only white woman with soul".

[@RobertGrayMusic]

Lucky Ray Brown!!

[@splashesin8]

😊

[@ditchgator1]

😎👍❤🖖 Love Sister

[@christopherlyons5900]

The best female jazz musicans--instrumentalists and/or vocalists--were all about the music. The politics, if any, came from that. From them being with the best male players, more than holding their own--but appreciating anyone who could play. To be with the best in Jazz means hanging with a whole lot of tom cats. Matching them lick for lick (not that kind of lick--necessarily). Appreciating them. Demanding appreciation in return, and while lesser male players might run them down, the best know the best when they listen. With their ears, not their eyes. If all you perceive is coloration, or genitalia, you're seeing nothing at all. Truly great musicians all know how to listen. Blossom had some vocal limitations, but so did Billie Holiday, Anita O'Day, Ella Fitzgerald. It's how you find a way to surpass your weaknesses, turn them into strengths, that marks you. She used the voice she had, and when she really got her hooks into a song--for example, Tea For Two--she could make it her own. And she, unlike most vocalists, could be her own accompanist. (Another example would be Shirley Horn, and of course Nina Simone, but she never really committed to Jazz, since she thought of herself more as a thwarted classical pianist, forced into cabaret singing for a living--she actually resented being compared to Billie Holiday!) Her timing is what I admire most of all. Offbeat, unpredictable. She keesps the emotion on the down-low, which just makes it simmer all the more. Not my favorite, by any means (I go back and forth between Billie and Anita). But a brilliant variation on a theme. Jazz is about eclecticism--no two players approach it exactly the same way. So there's always room for another take.

[@RobertfSullivan]

*. RFS Israel