Etta Jones - So Warm + From the Heart

Etta Jones came to the public attention in the 1940s, but after she was revealed as a potentially important artist, nothing much happened commercially with her records. So, after a long period of obscurity, the arrival of Etta Jones in the LP best seller lists in 1961 was a stunning illustration of how suddenly an almost neglected artist could become a name vocalist with two albums: So Warm and From the Heart. Miss Jones sense of drama was to lie about midway between Ethel Waters and Billie Holiday, but remained within hailing distance of Dinah Washington. That said, she was her own stylist. She had the ability to project a wide variety of moods, from anguish to exuberance. The arrangements on both albums, which include some handsome string writing, are by Oliver Nelson and were perhaps his most impressive achievement until then. Nelson had never written for strings before, and his only vocal-background arrangements had been for small combinations. I wrote as though the voice were an instrument, he said. Because of this, he took several chances and got away with them. Nelson gave Miss Jones some of the most complex accompanying lines to sing over ever confronting anyone.

1. You Don't Know What Love Is (Raye-DePaul) 3:06
2. I Wish I Didn't Love You So (Frank Loesser) 2:01
3. If You Were Mine (Mercer-Malneck) 2:42
4. All My Life (Mitchell-Stept) 3:41
5. I Laughed At Love (Davis-Silver) 3:31
6. You Better Go Now (Graham-Loesser) 1:57
7. And This Is My Beloved (Wright-Forrest) 3:03
8. Can You Look Me in the Eyes (Herrick-McMichael) 2:48
9. Unchained Melody (Zaret-North) 4:17
10. Hurry Home (Meyer-Emmerich-Bernier) 3:34
11. I'm Through with Love (Livingston-Malneck-Kahn) 4:03
12. How Deep Is the Ocean (Irving Berlin) 3:32
13. Just Friends (Lewis-Klenner) 2:57
14. Funny (Not Much) (Prince-Neil-Broughton-Merrill) 3:04
15. I'll Never Be Free (Benjamin-Weiss) 3:03
16. There Goes My Heart (Silver-Davis) 3:17
17. Makin' Whoopee (Donaldson-Kahn) 2:48
18. By the End of the River (Edwards-Haig) 2:12
19. You Came a Long Way from St. Louis (Russell-Brooks) 2:24
20. They Can't Take That Away from Me (Gershwin-Gershwin) 2:05
21. The Masquerade Is Over (Wrubel-Magidson) 2:54
22. Good Morning, Heartache (Higginbotham-Drake-Fisher) 2:31
23. Look for the Silver Lining (DeSylv