Etta James

2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

Etta James was a frequent visitor to the Montreux Jazz Festival stage.  Her volume of The Montreux Years culls performances from her concerts in 1975, 1977, 1978, 1989, 1990 and 1993.  Like Nina Simone (also represented in this series of releases), there was no song that James couldn't make her own with grit and guts.  Among the songs featured are her Muscle Shoals hit "Tell Mama" (James' highest-charting pop record), the top five R&B smash "Something's Got a Hold on Me" (which she co-wrote), and her smoldering reinvention of Harry Warren and Mack Gordon's romantic standard "At Last."  The second disc showcases highlights from James' 1975 Montreux debut; it also was the singer's first European concert.