Artist: Morgana King
Album: Four Classic Albums
Genre: Vocal Jazz, Traditional Pop
Label: Avid Records
Released: 2011
Quality: FLAC (image+.cue)
Tracklist:
- CD 1:
- For You, For Me, Forever More
- Here I'll Stay
- There's A Lull In My Life
- It's Delovely
- Down In The Depths
- The Song Is You
- In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning
- Ev'rything I Love
- If You Could See Me Now
- I'll String Along With You
- Everything I've Got
- You're Not So Easy To Forget
Sings the Blues (1958) - More Than You Know
- Frankie And Johnnie
- Mean To Me
- When Your Lover Has Gone
- Something To Remember You By
- I See Two Lovers
- Body And Soul
- Mad About The Boy
- It's Only A Paper Moon
- Bill
For You, For Me, Forever More (1956)
- CD 2:
- Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man
- Why Was I Born
The Greatest Songs Ever Swung (1959) - Just You, Just Me
- And the Angels Sing
- Take the "A" Train
- I Can't Get Started
- Lullaby of Birdland
- A Foggy Day
- How High The Moon
- Perdido
- Lonesome Road
- At Sundown
Let Me Love You (1960) - All or Nothing at All
- Let Me Love You
- I Love You Much Too Much
- I'll Never Smile Again
- I'll Remember April
- You Always Hurt The One You Love
- The End Of A Love Affair
- Mad About Him Sad Without Him, How Can I Be Glad Without Him Blues
- That Ole Devil Called Love
- Undecided
- You Don't Know What Love Is
- I've Found A New Baby - Fast Version
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Morgana King seemed to disappear from the scene almost as soon as she appeared. Most people noticed her remarkable voice in 1964 with an intriguingly mystic version of A Taste of Honey. That year she won a Grammy for Best New Artist but somehow she slipped out of many people's awareness and some jazz fans may not even have heard of her. Despite this, her career continued for some while as a singer and actress (she appeared in two of the Godfather films as Marlon Brando's wife).
As these four early albums show, she had a wide vocal range (four octaves) and sang securely in tune, with clear enunciation as well as commendable intonation. She had an air of mystery about her - perhaps because of her high-flying voice and the name Morgana (her real name was Maria Grazia Morgana Messina). These albums were recorded between 1956 and 1959, before she was really well known, but they prove that she was already a notable vocalist. She is worth discovering (or rediscovering), as she puts over every song with skill and confidence.
Like most such Avid double albums, this bargain compilation supplies a generous number of tracks lasting a total of over 142 minutes. And, like most such albums, the information is sketchy, listing few personnels and using tiny print. But the splendid music makes up for this, with classic songs delivered sensitively - and often including little-known verses.
Several tracks are marred by the tinkling of a celeste, which interferes with the subtlety of Morgana's vocals. Yet the many highlights include There's A Lull In My Life (with Mundell Lowe on guitar); Morgana's skittish performance of It's Delovely; the emotional Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man; Lullaby of Birdland which is taken at an unusually fast lick; How High The Moon, featuring four trombonists including King's second husband, Willie Dennis; and Perdido which has Morgana scatting jazzily.
Hearing these glorious recordings, one may wonder why Morgana King never became widely known as a singer. Perhaps she just sounds too subtle and ladylike for broad popularity, as she was seldom an extroverted performer.
by Tony Augarde