Peggy Lee, George Shearing – Beauty And The Beat! (1959/2015) [Official Digital Download 24bit/192kHz]

Peggy Lee, George Shearing – Beauty And The Beat! (1959/2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 33:25 minutes | 1,39 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © RevOla

Released in 1959, Beauty and the Beat! is an album by Peggy Lee, accompanied by the George Shearing Quintet. It was produced by Dave Cavanaugh.

Peggy Lee was accompanied by George Shearing and his quintet for a performance at a music industry convention in Miami in May 1959, marking the first time the two would work together. It has remained uncertain over the years how much of this album was actually recorded live during that technically-plagued concert and how much was reconstructed in the studio later. Nonetheless, it’s a swinging session including standards by Cole Porter, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman and Rodgers and Hart.

Upon its first release Beauty and the Beat! was billed as a live recording from a Miami convention of disc jockeys. Though Peggy Lee and George Shearing did in fact perform there (and attempts were made to record them for later release), the songs heard on the subsequent LP were recorded in the studio and overdubbed with rather obvious canned applause, announcements, and even post-production echo. Lee and Shearing, who had never recorded before, conceived a set of completely new arrangements that played to their strengths: stately blues and effervescent swing. The best of the former comes on a pair of locale-referencing quasi-blues, “I Lost My Sugar in Salt Lake City” and “You Came a Long Way From St. Louis,” both of which Lee and Shearing are able to transform into languorous, respectable torch songs. The usually downcast “Blue Prelude” is actually taken at a laissez faire tempo that Lee treats well, and the original set ends with “Get Out of Town” and “Satin Doll,” a pair of bemused, affectionate performances that perfectly suit the pair. Lee and Shearing’s only collaboration on record — though both would occasionally perform together thereafter — is a supremely chilled session of late-night blues from two masters of the form. –AllMusic Review by John Bush

Tracklist:

01. Peggy Lee, George Shearing – Do I Love You (03:50)
02. Peggy Lee, George Shearing – I Lost My Sugar In Salt Lake City (02:41)
03. Peggy Lee, George Shearing – If Dreams Come True (02:54)
04. Peggy Lee, George Shearing – All Too Soon (03:16)
05. Peggy Lee, George Shearing – Mambo In Miami (Instrumental) (01:57)
06. Peggy Lee, George Shearing – Isn’t It Romantic (Instrumental) (02:58)
07. Peggy Lee, George Shearing – Blue Prelude (02:24)
08. Peggy Lee, George Shearing – You Came A Long Way From St. Louis (03:16)
09. Peggy Lee, George Shearing – Always True To You In My Fashion (02:16)
10. Peggy Lee, George Shearing – There’ll Be Another Spring (02:28)
11. Peggy Lee, George Shearing – Get Out Of Town (02:30)
12. Peggy Lee, George Shearing – Satin Doll (Instrumental) (02:50)

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