Virtually all of singer
Babs Gonzales' most important recordings are on this colorful CD. A pioneering bop-oriented scat singer who predated vocalese masters
Eddie Jefferson,
King Pleasure, and
Jon Hendricks,
Gonzales sang with enthusiasm and an emphasis on vowels.
Babs is featured on eight numbers with his
Three Bips and a Bop (pianist-composer
Tadd Dameron is in the supporting cast), including the original version of
Gonzales' greatest hit, "Oop-Pop-A-Da." Other sessions are as noteworthy for their unique personnel as for
Babs' singing, which includes tenor saxophonist
Sonny Rollins (in his recording debut), trombonists
Bennie Green and
J.J. Johnson, French horn master
Julius Watkins, altoist
Art Pepper, pianist
Wynton Kelly, drummer
Roy Haynes,
Don Redman (on soprano), flutist Albert Soccaras, and violinist
Ray Nance. The final four numbers (from 1956 and 1958) find
Gonzales backed on two songs apiece by
the Jimmy Smith Trio and
the Bennie Green Quintet (with pianist
Sonny Clark). Highlights overall include "Weird Lullaby," "Babs' Dream," "Professor Bop," "Prelude to a Nightmare," "The Continental," "St. Louis Blues," and "'Round Midnight." Essential for bop collectors. ~ Scott Yanow