Juanita Hall is best-known for being a stage actress, playing Bloody Mary in South Pacific. However on this 1958 set for Counterpoint (which has been reissued on CD by Fresh Sound), she shows that she could effectively sing blues. Mostly sticking to songs from the
Bessie Smith songbook (including "You've Been a Good Old Wagon," "Gimme a Pigfoot" and "Nobody Wants You When You're Down and Out"),
Hall's extroverted and shouting style fit the music quite well. Pianist
Claude Hopkins arranged for the sextet and gathered quite an all-star backup group that includes tenor-saxophonist
Coleman Hawkins, clarinetist
Buster Bailey and trumpeter
Doc Cheatham. Well worth getting.