Rosemary Clooney: Girl Singer (SACD)

 

Music: B-     PCM CD sound: B     DSD Stereo: B+     DSD Multi-Channel: A-

 

 

Who would have thought that one of the most impressive Super Audio CD’s out on the market would be from Rosemary Clooney?  Certainly not I as I practically snickered upon first glancing at the packaging and I thought to myself, “they will put anything on SACD these days.”  Well, just a few moments into my listening experience I was beside myself.  Concord has issued this 1992 original release onto the SACD format as a hybrid disc containing CD audio, DSD Stereo and DSD Multi-Channel mixes, which does not fail to impress at all!

 

Clooney of course has that special knack for pulling together traditional pop music with vocal, jazz, showtunes, and ballad for a sweet performance even for the most timid music listener.  Now granted most people probably would not blast this one until the early hours of the morning until your neighbor calls the cops on you, but this is a very defined music experience that is sure to please, even if its for a romantic evening or just some laid back listening. 

 

Musically speaking this album is different from her previous Concord Records releases due to some different arrangements with musicians.  Interestingly enough this particular album is a tribute piece to the girl singers of the swing era, despite some of the tracks not even existing at that point in time, but nonetheless it’s a fun listen. 

 

 

Track Listing:

 

Nice ‘N’ Easy

Sweet Kentucky Ham

Autumn in New York

Miss Otis Regrets

Let There Be Love

Lovers After All

From This Moment On

More Than You Know

Wave

We Fell in Love Anyway

Ellington Medley: It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing)

Of Course It’s Crazy

Straighten Up & Fly Right

The Best is Yet to Come

 

 

What will impress the most is the clarity in the vocals and the warmth that this SACD presents.  Smooth vocals with a sweet midrange making Clooney sound more passionate than ever.  The band also sounds tight and the mix becomes quite impressive during 5.1 playback as we notice certain little arrangements that in stereo become lost or compressed into the mix.  Here they are freely dancing around in a more graceful way, making the presentation seem more natural and live-like.  Some of the Jazz swells really test out the front speakers as well and break them in well, especially if you have tower speakers.  The low end is hardly noticeable, but certainly present as it mixes in very well and fitting.  Sometimes 5.1 discs will have too much sub-channel activity that it overwhelms the entire mix.  Not the case here. 

 

There is very little to complain about here, the CD and DSD stereo have nothing on the multi-channel mix, but the DSD does have a nice solid 2.0 mix for those that are not doing 5.1 playback just yet.  Clarity, definition, and fidelity are all top notch for sure.  I just love the smoothness and texture that this SACD offers and is a high caliber disc to even show off to friends if you need something a bit more obscure. 

 

While this might not be the first choice for most people when it comes to a Jazz SACD, this is certainly one of the better mixes and arrangements that we have received from this site and welcome much more material from Concord and other companies that are dedicated to higher quality formats and material.  This disc is terrific and will make you want to go back and watch White Christmas again and again, or hunger for more Jazz in 5.1!

 

 

-   Nate Goss