Mercury has given the great singer
Dinah Washington the complete treatment with seven three-CD sets that contain all of her recordings during the 1946-1961 period, practically her entire career.
Vol. 5 is the final volume to be highly recommended, since it has her final jazz recordings. On many of these performances she is backed by orchestras led by
Quincy Jones,
Ernie Wilkins (including a tribute to
Fats Waller), or
Eddie Chamblee in arrangements that often leave room for short statements from some of the sidemen; one of the albums with
Chamblee has a full set of songs associated with
Bessie Smith.
Vol. 5 (which contains only a few commercial sides) concludes with her strong performance at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival. ~ Scott Yanow