Guitarists are said to blow a great solo. Singers cherish their instruments. An instrumentalist takes pride in achieving a voice. Among the few that sit on high in the jazz vocal pantheon, in chairs marked “Billie” and “Ella” and “Sarah” and a few others, none played their instrument so instrumentally as did Sarah Lois Vaughan.



Vaughan had a nearly four-octave range at her disposal. In her lower, middle and upper register, she seemed to possess three distinct voices. She was a fast-lane jazz scatter of clear-voiced precision, and could belt out a rocking, R&B–flavored radio hit like “Smooth Operator.” And she liked to deliver ballads at an exceedingly measured pace.

Here are collected some of her finest performances, stretching from 1949 to 1981.

Track Listing:

Disc 1:

1. If You Could See Me Now
2. Black Coffee
3. My Funny Valentine
4. Lover Man (1954 version)
5. Shulie A Bop
6. Body And Soul
7. Tenderly
8. Lullaby Of Birdland
9. I’m Glad There Is You
10. You’re Not The Kind
11. Embraceable You
12. How High The Moon
13. Sometimes I’m Happy
14. Lush Life
15. Poor Butterfly

1. September Song
2. All Of Me
3. Summertime
4. My Man’s Gone Now
5. Passing Strangers (duet with Billy Eckstine)
6. Broken-Hearted Melody
7. No ’Count Blues
8. Just One Of Those Things
9. Misty
10. The Midnight Sun Will Never Set
11. Smooth Operator
12. Mr. Lucky
13. The Sweetest Sounds
14. Take The “A” Train
15. Send In The Clowns