Of the six recordings
Blossom Dearie did for the Verve label in the '50s,
Give Him the Ooh-La-La is the third one to be released on CD. Three titles still remain in the vaults including a
Betty Comden and Johnny Green tribute as well as a Broadway Hits collection. It's a shame because
Dearie's girlishly dynamic voice, subtle piano playing, and rarified choice of contemporary material made her recordings unique among '50s jazz vocal outings.
Give Him the Ooh-La-La is no exception, with stellar backing by regular bassist
Ray Brown, drummer
Jo Jones and guitarist
Herb Ellis, and
Dearie's taut arrangements of a set of glowing ballads and brisk swingers. Included are a few well-worn standards like "Just One of Those Things" and "Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea." More intriguing, however, are
Dearie's inclusion of obscure titles like
Cy Coleman's "The Riviera," a tongue and cheek portrait of Europe's playground, as well as his "I Walk a Little Faster." Additionally, there's the gently executed and innocuous self-help number "Try Your Wings," a bouncy "The Middle of Love," and a nod to her club stint in Paris with the French tune "Plus Je T'Embrasse." As usual, both
Dearie's piano and voice are instilled with impeccable playfulness on mischievous numbers like the title track and in the tender pathos of ballads such as "Like Someone in Love." Like
Dearie's two other available titles
Blossom Dearie and
Once Upon a Summertime,
Give Him the Ooh-La-La features a great collection of tunes from the high point of her recording career. The dilemma is not which recording to get, but where to start. ~ Stephen Cook