[.ca] Best Of Prestige Singles

Truly Etta's Greatest!:
In terms of performance and song selection, this really is the best of the sides the late Ms. Jones recorded during her tenure with Prestige. Always soulful and swinging, Etta Jones enjoyed praise from musicians, singers and fans, and deserves a lot more recognition than she got during her lifetime. If you have to get only one of Etta's discs - this is the one to shell out for.

Good Starter:
If you've just discovered Etta, or are curious about why some of us rank her with Ella, Sarah, and Billie, this is just about as good an introduction as you'll find. It collects some of the recorded highlights from the end of the first half of her career--the early '60's when her voice was probably at its very richest. Included here are fine cuts from her best albums--"Don't Go To Strangers," "Love Shout," "Lonely and Blue" with Gene Ammons' tenor, and "So Warm" with Oliver Nelson's orchestral arrangements. Still, given Etta's consistency during this time, there are as many notable omissions as essential inclusions. I'd hate to be without "Some Enchanted Evening" ("Love Shout") or "If You're But a Dream" ("Lonely and Blue"). Moreover, the collection doesn't represent her sterling work with Budd Johnson in the mid '40's, when she was simply the best female jazz singer of the blues, period. Nor does it offer any of the grittier but no less expressive Etta of the '80's and '90's. Like every other single CD anthology by a major artist purporting to be the "Best of--", it's a misleading statement. On the other hand, unlike some similar titles that come to mind, it's not a flagrant misrepresentation.

• Don't Go To Strangers
• If I Had You
• Canadian Sunset
• That's All There Is To That
• Till There Was You
• All The Way
• Unchained Melody/Hurry Home
• You Came A Long Way From St. Louis
• Just Friends
• I'll Be There
• In The Dark
• Nature Boy
• Hi-Lili, Hi-Lo
• Love Walked In
• Old Folks
• Someday My Prince Will Come
• The Gal From Joe's