Dinah Washington recorded a stunning amount of material in her too-short career (when she died in Detroit in 1963 she was only 39 years old -- somehow she still managed to find time for seven marriages), most of it during her lengthy association with Mercury Records between 1948 and 1955.
Washington seemingly tackled everything under the sun in the recording studio, cutting jazz, R&B, blues, and pop sides with an assortment of small groups, trios, sextets, and increasingly, toward the end of her life, with large orchestras, and if she seemed to be gradually fading into blander and sleeker arrangements as time went on, her voice always remained focused and coiled, and her bluesy phrasing has influenced far more singers than most folks realize. This four-disc, 109-track set includes every side commercially released under
Washington's name between 1944 and 1951 (each of the four discs has been previously released by Proper as a stand-alone album), opening with tracks recorded with
Lionel Hampton and closing out with a couple of delightful selections recorded with
the Ravens. Much of what is here falls to the R&B side, revealing a somewhat rougher style that will be revelatory to listeners only familiar with her later more smoothed-out pop material. This lady could sing anything in any style and make it her own (just listen to how she claims
Hank Williams' "Cold, Cold Heart" here). This box is an absolute treasure trove from one of the best singers of the 20th century.