BOOKLET
Blossom Dearie – Once Upon A Summertime (1958) [FLAC]
01 – Tea For Two
02 – Surrey With The Fringe On Top
03 – Moonlight Saving Time
04 – It Amazes Me
05 – If I Were A Bell
06 – We’re Together
07 – Teach Me Tonight
08 – Once Upon A Summertime
09 – Down With Love
10 – Manhattan
11 – Doop-Doo-De-Doop (A Doodlin’ Song)
12 – Our Love Is Here To Stay
Blossom Dearie, piano, vocal
Mundell Lowe, guitar
Ray Brown, bass
Ed Thigpen, drums
Rec, September 12 & 13, 1958 in New York
review by Thom Owens
Vocalist Blossom Dearie’s Summetime is a low-key collection of chamber-jazz arranged for a small trio. Working with guitarist Mundell Lowe, bassist Ray Brown, and drummer Ed Thigpen, Dearie sings the material with a gentle conviction; she may never sound passionate, but she never sounds like she doesn’t care. The result is a pleasant record, that might never be a compelling listen, but it’s never a bad one.
Dearie was born in East Durham, New York. As a child, she studied classical piano but switched to jazz as a teenager. After high school Dearie moved to New York City to pursue
her music career. Here she began singing in groups such as the Blue Flames (with the Woody Herman Orchestra) and the Blue Reys (with Alvino Rey’s band) before launching her solo career.
In 1952, she moved to Paris and formed a vocal group, The Blue Stars. In 1954 the group had a hit in France with a French-language version of “Lullaby of Birdland”. While in
Paris she met her future husband, the Belgian flutist and saxophonist Bobby Jaspar. On her first solo album, released two years later, she plays the piano but does not sing.
After returning from France, Dearie made her first six American albums as a solo singer and pianist for Verve Records in the late 1950s and early 1960s, mostly in a small trio or quartet setting. In 1962, she recorded a song for a radio commercial for Hires Root Beer. As it proved very popular, the LP Blossom Dearie Sings Rootin’ Songs was released as a premium item that could be ordered for one dollar and a proof of purchase.
In 1964, she recorded her best known album for Capitol Records, May I Come In?, recorded, atypically for her, with an orchestra. During this same period Blossom performed frequently in New York supper clubs and honed her own distinctive style. In 1966, she made her first appearance at Ronnie Scott’s club in London and quickly became a popular act. She went on to record four albums in England, released on the Fontana label, in the 1960s.
In 1974, Dearie established her own label, Daffodil Records, to allow her full control in the recording and distribution of her albums. Dearie has also appeared on television throughout her career, most notably giving her voice to the children’s educational series Schoolhouse Rock! Many of her pieces in this series were written by her good friend, the jazz singer and composer Bob Dorough. Her voice can be heard on “Mother Necessity”, “Figure Eight” and “Unpack Your Adjectives”.
Her distinctive voice and songs have been featured on the soundtracks of many films including Kissing Jessica Stein, The Squid and the Whale and The Adventures of Felix. She has also recorded with various musicians, including Bob Dorough and Lyle Lovett.
Dearie has continued to perform in clubs. As one of the last remaining supper club performers, she still performs regular engagements in London and New York City.
In May 2007, Kylie Minogue said that Dearie has been an inspiration for some songs on her last album.
Blossom Dearie (her real name) comes from upstate New York in a little village near Albany. She started singing with vocal groups and playing piano in clubs when she first arrive in New York City, but considers that her professional career really began in the early 1960s in London where she was working at Ronnie Scott’s Club and making guest appearances on the very popular television show Dudley Moore and Peter Cook has at that time. It was then she started to write songs along with singing, arranging, and performing them.
Blossom Dearie feels biographical information from encyclopedias and histories is old hat, outdated, and counter productive and would rather talk about her present and future plans. Starting with the present, she is currently performing at Danny’s Skylight Room on West 46th Street(NYC) which she hopes will be a long engagement for her and many of her colleagues. She has received raves about her musicianship, songwriting, sing, piano playing and wit by everyone of importance in the music world. Everyone knows her and loves her.
Her musical roots are in jazz as well as popular song, but her voice and style are uniquely hers (“chic, sleek and squeeky-clean, a voice in a million” says Leonard Feather in the Los Angeles Times). She often tours in Europe, Australia and across the globe performing her light-hearted, fanciful and funny songs for sophisticated audiences. Her very special repertoire ranges from Gershwin, Porter, Rodgers and Hart and Johnny Mercer favorites to comic gems by John Wallowitch and Dave Frishberg and romantic ballads she composed herself to lyrics by Jack Segal. Early in her New York Career she recorded six albums for Norman Granz’s Verve. The following four have been re-released:
“Blossom Dearie,” “Once Upon A Summertime,” Give Him The Ooh-La-La,” and “Sings Comden & Green,” and “Verve Jazz Masters 51: Blossom Dearie.” Two coming up in 2002 are “Soubrette Sings Broadway Hit Songs,” and “My Gentleman Friend.” her more recent recordings are available on her own label, Daffodil Records. A further project is making an autobiographical video. Rex Reed called her “one of New York’s treasures,” in the New York Observer, while Rogers Whittaker of The New Yorker asserted that her performances range “from the meticulous to the sublime.” And Blossom says they appeal to all ages.