Welcome to Afterglow, [a show of vocal jazz and popular song from the Great American Songbook], I’m your host, Mark Chilla.

This week on the show, we’re continuing our 100th birthday celebration of The Divine One, Miss Sarah Vaughan. Vaughan would have turned 100 years old on March 27, 2024. Last time, I took a deep dive into her work during the 1950s, where she recorded both jazz and pop records for the Mercury label. This hour, we’ll explore her work in the following decade, and the many recordings she made for the Roulette label and beyond.

It’s Sassy Swings Again: Sarah Vaughan in the 1960s, coming up next on Afterglow

MUSIC - SARAH VAUGHAN, "I REMEMBER YOU"

Sarah Vaughan in 1962 with Victor Scherzinger and Johnny Mercer’s “I Remember You.” That comes from her album titled Snowbound, a beautiful record with strings arranged by Don Costa.

MUSIC CLIP - STAN GETZ, "I REMEMBER YOU"

Mark Chilla here on Afterglow. On this show, we’re exploring the work of the legendary jazz singer Sarah Vaughan in the 1960s. [Vaughan would have turned 100 years old on March 27, 2024, just a few weeks ago.]

In 1960, Sarah Vaughan made the move from the Mercury Record label to Roulette Records. Her labelmates on Mercury, Dinah Washington and Billy Eckstine, did the same thing at this time. 

At Mercury, she was creating both straight-ahead jazz records and bubblegum pop singles. But when she moved to Roulette, Vaughan followed in the footsteps of Joe Williams and other jazz-pop crooners, leaning into romantic balladry. Her first album for the label, titled Dreamy, featured a 29-piece orchestra arranged by her longtime pianist Jimmy Jones. Vaughan’s elegant singing voice adapts beautifully to this romantic style, even though this change in tone was pushing away some of her more diehard jazz fans. 

Let’s hear a track from this album now. This one also features Harry “Sweets” Edison on trumpet. This is Sarah Vaughan in 1960 with “I’ll Be Seeing You,” on Afterglow.

MUSIC - SARAH VAUGHAN, "I'LL BE SEEING YOU"

MUSIC - SARAH VAUGHAN, "AIN'T NO USE"

Sarah Vaughan in October 1960 with the R&B standard “Ain’t No Use.” That comes from her album called The Divine One, an album that singer Etta Jones praised as one of her favorites. Before that, we heard “The Divine One” Sarah Vaughan in April 1960 with “I’ll Be Seeing You,” off of her album titled Dreamy. Both of those albums were for Roulette Records, and both featured Harry “Sweets” Edison on trumpet.

While on the Roulette label, Sarah Vaughan also recorded her first official album with noted bandleader Count Basie. The two had toured together, performing live in notable venues like Birdland and Carnegie Hall. And she had even recorded albums with several members of Basie’s band, but never with the Count himself, due to label restrictions. In 1961, they released the album Count Basie - Sarah Vaughan, a hard swinging record with arrangements by the great trumpeter Thad Jones. 

Here’s a track from that album now. This is Sarah Vaughan with Count Basie and His Orchestra performing a song that had been in Vaughan’s repertoire since at least the 1950s, the jazz standard “Perdido,” on Afterglow.

MUSIC - SARAH VAUGHAN, "PERDIDO"

MUSIC - SARAH VAUGHAN, "AFTER YOU'VE GONE"

Sarah Vaughan in 1963 with “After You’re Gone.” That comes from her album The Explosive Side Of Sarah Vaughan, arranged by Benny Carter. Before that, we heard her in 1961 with the jazz standard “Perdido,” off of the album Count Basie - Sarah Vaughan, arranged by Thad Jones.

Sarah Vaughan’s work for Roulette Records in the 1960s also included some more intimate records featuring just bass and guitar. The first record of this nature was called After Hours, recorded in New York City in 1961 with guitarist Mundell Lowe. The follow up was called Sarah + 2, recorded in Los Angeles in 1962 with guitarist Barney Kessel. While the record consists of mostly quiet ballads, it’s also some of her jazziest work of the decade.

Let’s hear a track from each album now. First, this is Sarah Vaughan and guitarist Mundell Lowe in 1961 with Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “My Favorite Things,” on Afterglow.

MUSIC - SARAH VAUGHAN, "MY FAVORITE THINGS"

MUSIC - SARAH VAUGHAN, "KEY LARGO"

Two tracks from two of Sarah Vaughan’s more intimate albums from the 1960s. Just now, we heard the song “Key Largo,” by Benny Carter, from her 1962 album Sarah + 2. Before that, we heard “My Favorite Things” from the 1961 album After Hours.

While working for Roulette Records in the 1960s, Sarah Vaughan got to work with a number of famous arrangers and conductors. Among them were notable names like the brash and fiery Billy May, and the exciting up-and-comer Quincy Jones. Sarah and Q had already worked together, in fact: he had arranged her 1959 for Mercury called Vaughan and Violins, featuring a winning arrangement of the track “Misty.” 

MUSIC CLIP - SARAH VAUGHAN, "MISTY"

In the 1960s, they worked together on the ballad album You’re Mine You, which features mostly string arrangements, as well as on a few singles where both get to show off their jazz and R&B chops. We’ll hear one of those singles now.

First in this set, this is Sarah Vaughan and arranger Quincy Jones in 1962 with “One Mint Julep,” on Afterglow.

MUSIC - SARAH VAUGHAN, "ONE MINT JULIP"

MUSIC - SARAH VAUGHAN, "THEM THERE EYES"

Sarah Vaughan and arranger Billy May in 1960 with the jazz standard “Them There Eyes.” Before that, we heard Vaughan with arranger Quincy Jones in 1962 with “One Mint Julep.” 

MUSIC CLIP - LOUIS ARMSTRONG, "THEM THERE EYES"

We’ll have more from Sarah Vaughan and her work in the 1960s in just a bit. Stay with us.

I’m Mark Chilla, and you’re listening to Afterglow

MUSIC CLIP - OSCAR PETERSON, "PERDIDO"

MUSIC CLIP - KENNY BARRON, "ROUND MIDNIGHT"

Welcome back to Afterglow, I’m Mark Chilla. We’ve been exploring the 1960s work of Sarah Vaughan this hour. [Vaughan would have turned 100 years old just a few weeks ago.]

In the first part of the decade, she was very active on Roulette Records, recording 13 LPs in about a five year stretch. Many of the albums she recorded for the label were ballad albums, highlighting her expressive and sultry voice in often dramatic fashion. Some of her work even evoked her gospel roots, particularly the 1963 Sarah Sings Soulfully, which featured organ and soulful arrangements by Gerald Wilson. 

It was a tough recording session for her, having just gone through a divorce with her husband C.B. Atkins. At one point during the session, the police came to inform her that her ex had run away, taking their daughter with him. Sarah was devastated, but incredibly, was able to perform with no disruption. Gerald Wilson said it was, quote, “remarkable how she could do this with all that was going on around her at that moment.” 

Let’s hear a soulful track from that album. This is Sarah Vaughan in 1963 with “‘Round Midnight,” on Afterglow.

MUSIC - SARAH VAUGHAN, "ROUND MIDNIGHT"

MUSIC - SARAH VAUGHAN, "ALWAYS ON MY MIND"

[Sarah Vaughan with the song “Always On My Mind,” from her 1963 album The Lonely Hours, arranged by Benny Carter.] Before that, we heard “Round Midnight”, from her 1963 album Sarah Sings Soulfully.

Sarah Vaughan’s contract with Roulette ended in 1964. They worked her hard, often too hard: She recorded 13 LPs and many other singles for Roulette, experimenting with different genres and pushing the boundaries of her vocal style. One particularly interesting album was a 1963 LP titled Sarah Slightly Classical, which is (as you may expect) a quasi operatic album featuring pop adaptations of classical works. 

MUSIC CLIP - SARAH VAUGHAN, "FULL MOON AND EMPTY ARMS"

It definitely shows off that slightly classical side to Vaughan’s voice, a skill that was completely self-taught; her family could never afford classical singing lessons. However, the album is definitely an outlier in her catalog.

Her final recording for Roulette, the LP Sweet and Sassy from 1964, was more jazz forward. The LP featured energetic arrangements by another up-and-comer Lalo Schiffrin. He had been a big fan of Vaughan and her abilities, and so he tried to test her vocal strength with some wild ideas.

We’ll hear a particularly wild track from that album now. This is Sarah Vaughan with “I Got Rhythm,” on Afterglow

MUSIC - SARAH VAUGHAN, "I GOT RHYTHM"

Sarah Vaughan in 1963 with “I Got Rhythm,” from her final album for Roulette titled Sweet And Sassy.

By 1964, Sarah Vaughan had returned to her former label Mercury, where she would spend the next three years. One of the creative heads at Mercury at this time was Quincy Jones, who helped shape her sound. Quincy was becoming increasingly focused on pop recordings. This meant that Vaughan would end up recording a few albums of pop crossover tunes, which weren’t quite the right musical fit.

MUSIC CLIP - SARAH VAUGHAN, "A LOVER'S CONCERTO"

Plus an album that capitalized on the pop bossa nova craze, which at least got a chance to highlight her ability a bit more

MUSIC CLIP - SARAH VAUGHAN, "THE BOY FROM IPANEMA"

One big success for Mercury was a live recording made at the Tivoli Gardens Concert Hall in Copenhagen, Denmark. Sassy Swings The Tivoli is widely considered to be one of her best live recordings, and a high watermark of her work in the 1960s. Let’s hear a track from it now.

This is Sarah Vaughan live at the Tivoli in July 1963 with “I Feel Pretty,” on Afterglow.

MUSIC - SARAH VAUGHAN, "I FEEL PRETTY (LIVE)"

Sarah Vaughan live in Denmark in 1963 with Bernstein and Sondheim’s “I Feel Pretty.” That comes from her album Sassy Swings The Tivoli. 

Sarah Vaughan’s final two records for Mercury in the 1960s are considered by many critics to be some of her best of the decade. The album It’s A Man’s World (featuring songs about men or with mens’ names in their title) and the album Sassy Swings Again both bring her back to her jazz roots. Many notable jazz names—like Hal Mooney, Bob James, J.J. Johnson, Freddie Hubbard, and Thad Jones—were featured on these records. Combine these jazz greats with some quality jazz standards, and you have two excellent albums. 

Unfortunately, they were also the singers’ final albums of the decade. Due to changing musical tastes, her contract with Mercury was not renewed in 1967. And this jazz great spent the next four years without a record label. She would emerge again in 1971, reinventing herself and modifying her sound for times, but that’s a story for another day.

To close off this episode about her work in the 1960s, let’s hear a track from her final two Mercury albums from 1967. First, from the album It’s A Man’s World, this is Sarah Vaughan with “My Man,” on Afterglow.

MUSIC - SARAH VAUGHAN, "MY MAN"

MUSIC - SARAH VAUGHAN, "TAKE THE A TRAIN"

Sarah Vaughan in 1967 with “Take The A Train,” from her album Sassy Swings Again. Before that, we heard “My Man,” from her album It’s A Man’s World. Those two recordings from 1967, were among her final recordings of the 1960s.

Thanks for tuning in to this Sarah Vaughan edition of Afterglow.

MUSIC CLIP - SARAH VAUGHAN, "SASSY'S BLUES (LIVE)"