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This past weekend – April 28, to be exact – would have marked the 95th birthday of Blossom Dearie.  The singer-pianist-songwriter with the recognizably wispy, coquettish voice recorded over 30 albums for labels including Verve, Capitol, and Fontana, and collaborated with talents including Johnny Mercer, Michel Legrand, and Bob Dorough.  Cherry Red’s El label has just celebrated Dearie’s early years with a new 3-CD set, The Adorable Blossom Dearie (superseding the label’s previous single-disc release with the same title and artwork).

Though often considered in the ranks of the jazz singers, Dearie considered herself “a songwriter’s singer,” and indeed, she attracted the attention of many of the finest composers and lyricists of the twentieth century.  She recorded an album-length tribute to the Broadway lyricist team of Betty Comden and Adolph Green, and participated in producer Ben Bagley’s tributes to Rodgers and Hart, Alan Jay Lerner, Irving Berlin, Harold Arlen, Ira Gershwin, and others.  Though born in New York, Dearie found early success in Paris, and El’s set begins with an entire disc of her recordings there.  These include the EP Blossom Dearie and Bobby Jaspar, on which she was joined by her then-husband/flautist on a quartet of tunes including “Old Devil Moon” and “Autumn in New York”; the France-only Jazz Sweet album featuring Dearie, bassist Herman Garst, and drummer Bernard Planchenault; and a clutch of recordings (including an entire album) by The Blue Stars, the bop-flavored vocal harmony group she formed with Michel Legrand’s sister Christiane, Roger Guerin, Christian Chevalier, Nadine Young, Janine De Waleyne, Jean Mercadier, and Fats Sadi.  Blossom handled much of the arranging herself, though Michel Legrand occasionally brought his special touch to the group’s work as on recordings here of “The Kissing Dance” and “Lullaby of Birdland,” the latter of which became a hit in France.

After returning home from France in 1957, Dearie was signed to Verve Records.  Her self-titled debut opens the second disc of The Adorable Blossom Dearie, followed by a lone track (“The Surrey with the Fringe on Top”) from her 1958 follow-up Once Upon a Summertime, both sides of a Blue Stars 45 (“Cherokee” b/w “Deja (All at Once),” and a host of collaborations as singer and/or pianist with such boldface names as Stan Getz, Dave Lambert, and Annie Ross dating as far back as 1948.  The third and final disc turns the spotlight back onto Bobby Jaspar.  Dearie’s marriage to the Belgian flautist (1926-1963) lasted only between 1954 and 1957, during which time he remained quite prolific as a sideman and leader in both New York and Paris.  Even after their divorce, Jaspar continued to back Dearie as on the three tracks reprised here from her 1959 Verve LP My Gentleman Friend.  Jaspar is also heard alongside Hank Jones, J.J. Johnson, Milt Jackson, Donald Byrd, vocalist Helen Merrill, and guitarist Sacha Distel on these eclectic sessions.

Blossom Dearie continued to record in her famiiar style through the early 2000s, surveying the work of contemporary composers as well as classic Broadway tunesmiths.  Her co-composition “Dusty Springfield,” co-written with Dusty’s onetime companion Norma Tanega, became a cult favorite.  El’s set, made possible via current U.K. public domain laws, is a fine sampler of her earliest work with a welcome detour to the far less-heralded repertoire of Bobby Jaspar.  The Adorable Blossom Dearie is housed in a clamshell case and includes a 20-page booklet with liner notes as well as session credits (though unfortunately not discographical annotation).  Each disc is housed in a mini-LP sleeve.  Should you, too, wish to celebrate the life and legacy of one of America’s finest (and yes, most adorable) song stylists, you’ll find the track listing and order links below!

Blossom Dearie, The Adorable Blossom Dearie (Cherry Red/El ACME345BOX, 2019) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

CD 1

Bobby Jaspar and Blossom Dearie EP (1956)

1. Old Devil Moon
2. Autumn in New York
3. Flamingo
4. There Will Never Be Another You

Jazz Sweet: Blossom Dearie Plays ‘April in Paris’ (1955)

5. The Continental
6. The Boy Next Door
7. They Can’t Take That Away from Me
8. Moonlight Saving Time (There Ought to Be A)
9. The Surrey with the Fringe on Top
10. April in Paris
11. Blue Moon
12. Down in the Depths on the 90th Floor

The Blue Stars of France, Sing ‘Lullaby of Birdland’ and Other Famous Hits (1954-1956)

13. Lullaby of Birdland
14. Speak Low
15. Gina
16. Heart of My Heart
17. That’s My Girl
18. The Portuguese Washerwoman
19. Mister Sandman
20. In 1920
21. Hold Me Close
22. Letter to Virginia
23. The Kissing Dance
24. Mambo Italiano

The Blue Stars – EP (1956)

25. Jumpin’ at the Woodside
26. C’est La Vie
27. Broadway at Basin Street
28. Grapevine

The Blue Stars, Pardon My English (1957)

29. Move

CD 2

Blossom Dearie (Verve, 1956)

1. ‘Deed I Do
2. Lover Man (Oh Where Can You Be)
3. Everything I’ve Got
4. Comment Allez Vous
5. More Than You Know
6. Thou Swell
7. It Might as Well Be Spring
8. Tout Doucement
9. You for Me
10. Now at Last
11. I Hear Music
12. Wait Till You See Her
13. I Won’t Dance
14. A Fine Spring Morning
15. They Say It’s Spring (Bonus Track)
16. Johnny One Note (Bonus Track)

Once Upon a Summertime (Verve, 1958)

17. The Surrey with the Fringe on Top

The Blue Stars, single (1956)

18. Cherokee
19. Deja (All at Once)

Dave Lambert & Buddy Stewart, single (1948) feat. Blossom Dearie, vocals

20. In the Merry Land of Bop
21. Hot Halavah

Stan Getz & Jimmy Raney, single (1949) feat. Blossom Dearie, vocals

22. Be Still TV
23. Short P, Not LP

Annie Ross, Singin’ and Swingin’ (1952) feat. Blossom Dearie on piano

24. The Way You Look Tonight
25. I’m Beginning to Think You Care for Me
26. Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
27. Everytime

King Pleasure, single (1952) feat. Blossom Dearie, vocals

28. I’m in the Mood for Love

CD 3: The Perfect Sound – The Jazz Flute of Bobby Jaspar

The J.J. Johnson Quintet (1956)

1. It Might as Well Be Spring

The Hank Jones Quintet (1956)

2. Moonlight Becomes You

The Bobby Jaspar Quintet (1956)

3. Tutti Flutti
4. In a Little Provincial Town

Milt Jackson (1957)

5. Bags’ New Groove

Bobby Jaspar & Sacha Distel Quintet (1957)

6. Stop and Go

Barry Galbraith (1958)

7. Bull Market
8. Nina Never Knew
9. A Gal in Calico
10. I Like to Recognize the Tune

Helen Merrill with The Bobby Jaspar Quintet (1958)

11. When the Sun Comes Out

Donald Byrd (1958)

12. Flute Blues

Bobby Jaspar (1958)

13. Phenil Isopropilamine

Blossom Dearie, My Gentleman Friend (Verve, rec. 1959/rel. 1961)

14. Chez Moi
15. Boum
16. L’etang

John Rae (1960)

17. Ah-leu-cha

The Thomas-Jaspar Quintet (1961)

18. Hannies’ Dream
19. Bernie’s Taste