LP-720

Lorez Alexandria - For Swingers Only

Released 1963

Recording and Session Information

Lorez Alexandria, vocal; Ronald Wilson tenor saxophone, flute; John Young, piano; George Eskridge, guitar; Jimmy Garrison, bass; Philip Thomas, drums
Ter Mar, Chicago, January 2-3 1963

12097 Love look away
12098 The end of a love affair
12099 All or nothing at all
12100 Traveling down a lonely road
12101 That old devil called love
12102 Little girl blue
12103 Baltimore oriole
12104 Mother earth

Track Listing

Baltimore Oriole	Hoagy Carmichael-Paul F. Webster	January 2-3 1963
Little Girl Blue	R. Rodgers-L. Hart	January 2-3 1963
All Or Nothing At All	Jack Lawrence-A. Altman	January 2-3 1963
Traveling Down A Lonely Road	M. Galdieri-N. Rota-D. Raye	January 2-3 1963
Mother Earth	P. Chatman	January 2-3 1963
Love Look Away	Rodgers-Hammerstein	January 2-3 1963
The End Of A Love Affair	Edward C. Redding	January 2-3 1963
That Old Devil Called Love	Allan Roberts-Doris Fisher	January 2-3 1963

Liner Notes

LOREZ ALEXANDRIA is a poised, vital, articulate girl who, singing or talking, makes it clear at all times that she is a person of strong convictions and has the courage to express them. These are important personality traits for any real individualist; when you add to them the virtues of attractive timbre, a natural sense of style and phrasing, the elusive element sometimes known as soul, and top them all off with an instrumental accompaniment. you can be reasonably sure results that are going to be out of the ordinary.

This is precisely what happens on For Swingers Only. In many respects I feel this is Lorez' best album to date. For one thing, her always admirable taste in selection of material is reflected here in a particularly impressive repertoire. Secondly, there are eight tracks instead of her previously customary ten; this enables her to stretch out comfortably on all of them and to add occasional variety in the form of instrumental passages. Third and most important, I believe every intelligent singer matures, learns from the study of previous efforts on records and improves with the passage of time.

Lorez, as most listeners presumably know by now, is a Chicago girl whose background is rooted in music. Her experience has ranged from early church singing to big band work (with King Fleming's orchestra) as well as vocal group work on both semi-classical and pop-music levels. Since early 1962 she has been living in Los Angeles with her husband, publicist Dave Nelson; however, these sides were taped in Chicago and are notable for the inclusion of a promising local musician, flutist Ronald Wilson, whose obligatos lend rich color to the backgrounds.

Any album titled For Swingers Only would do its name less than justice if it came up with a less than remarkable rhythm section. A glance at the personnel makes it clear that business was well taken care of in this department. Pianist John Young (well known for his work with the Eddie Chamblee combo) and guitarist George Eskridge will be familiar to many of Lorez' fans through their contribution to one of her most successful earlier LPs, Deep Roots (Argo 694). Jimmy Garrison happened to be in town with John Coltrane's quartet when the session was cut; Vernel Fournier, the New Orleans drummer (also heard on Deep Roots), was with Ahmad Jamal for several years and has been with George Shearing for the past year.

Ballimore Oriole is Lorez' second recorded version of the Hoagy Carmichael standard; she cut it for another label several years ago. The new treatment similar in approach to the original, makes a striking illustration of Lorez' warmth and assurance; listen especially for the ease with which she dips downward on the word "blackbird" not far from the opening.

"They told me Little Girl Blue has been done so many times before — I had to persuade them to let me include it," says Lorez, "because it's always been a favorite tune of mine." Noteworthy here are the oblique opening — the first nine words sung a capella, and the confidence with which Lorez' range enables her to get a low E Flat (on "unlucky") and soar soon after to a high B Flat.

All or Nothing a: All is a firm swinger all the way from Wilson's flute intro through Lorez' chorus and Young's solo. Garrison walks impressively through this unusual interpretation of the 1940 standard.

Traveling Down A Lonely Road was originally an instrumental theme heard in the movie La Strada. To my knowledge it has seldom, perhaps never, been recorded as a vocal. The moderato waltz meter is confidently handled by Lorez and there is a charming flute interlude.

The intimations of mortality in the lyrics of Mother Earth were first addressed to us by veteran blues singer Memphis Slim. On this track Ronald Wilson switches from flute to tenor sax and Lorez gets into a fittingly earthy blues groove with a 12/8 beat in the back ground.

Love Look Away is a theme from The Flower Drum Song. Once again there is a slow but solid beat and the flute adds an exotic touch.

The End of a Love Affair is handled very differently from the customarily melodramatic approach to these lyrics. A Latin beat is added, behind the vocal and during John Young's piano solo.

That Old Devil Called Love was introduced by Billie Holiday on a 1944 recording. There have been other Holiday-associated songs in Lorez' albums, but as she points out, there is never any attempt to imitate the original style or approach. ("That would be sacrilegious"). The tempo is a little brighter than that normally accorded to the tune; when you examine the meaning of the lyrics this seems very logical. George Eskridge is heard in four-bar trades with Lorez and Ronald Wilson again contributes a tasteful solo.

A concluding word about that title; it should not be inferred that only those concerned with swinging up tempos will appreciate this album. Perhaps a more comprehensive title would have been "For Admirers of Tasteful, Swinging Singing Only." On that basis, every Lorez Alexandria album would have a place in your library. But more than any previous set, I believe this one will convince any fence-straddlers that in Lorez we have one of those rare singers who can sense all the qualities required in a contemporary jazz-oriented vocal performance—and who knows how to translate those qualities into living, swinging reality.

—LEONARD FEATHER
(Author of The 'New Encyclopedia of Jazz)