June Christy: Something Cool
Musicians:
June Christy (vocals),
with 17-piece band featuring Gus Bivona (alto sax). Arranged by Pete Rugolo
.Composed by Bill Barnes
.Recorded: Los Angeles, August 14, 1953
Rating: 93/100 (learn more)
In 1953, no longer the '40s flychick scatting "How High the Moon" with Stan Kenton, June Christy turned to dramatic readings of saloon songs. Bill Barnes's "Something Cool" is incisive storytelling, as June enacts the first-person narrative of a self-deluding barfly. Think Blanche DuBois as lounge lizard. Ordinarily, she would decline to drink with a stranger, but relents because she's "so terribly far from home." Citing past triumphs—a house with countless rooms, 15 different beaus, off to Paris in the fall—this gal fools herself more than she impresses the guy who stops to buy her something cool. A remarkable 4-minute drama.
Reviewer: Alan Kurtz
Tags: cool jazz
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