Even though
Sarah Vaughan recorded for Columbia between 1949 and 1952, only two LPs were culled from the many tracks she produced during this period: the guitar-bass-vocal-only
After Hours, and
Sarah Vaughan in Hi-Fi, a more jazz-oriented collection featuring a young
Miles Davis and tenor player
Budd Johnson, among others. These are among
Vaughan's finest recordings, and the stellar accompaniment is reminiscent of the
Teddy Wilson's small groups backing
Billie Holiday on her Columbia recordings of the '30s. Here the still youthful
Vaughan applies her technical mastery to jazz classics like "East of the Sun," "Come Rain or Come Shine," and "The Nearness of You," complete with startlingly elastic phrasing and sheer loveliness of voice. ~ Rovi Staff