AMG Review of Black and Blue: A Musical Revue (Original Broadway Cast)

Scott Yanow
All Music Guide

The Broadway show Black and Blue sought through songs, dancing, vocals and instrumental music to re-create the spirit of black entertainment between the World Wars. However, on evidence of this CD, the well-intentioned show was at best a mixed success. Most of the charts (arranged by Sy Johnson except for two numbers by Luther Henderson) sound closer to '50s Basie big-band music than to early swing. On the instrumental "Royal Garden Blues," Johnson appears to have been unable to make up his mind whether it should be played as Dixieland, swing or bop, while this version of "Stompin' at the Savoy" (mostly used as a backing for Jimmy Slyde's tapping) could have been recorded in 1959. Among the musicians, only pianist Roland Hanna and trombonist Britt Woodman are consistently playing in the right style. Of the three singers, Carrie Smith shows the most respect for the material and the era. Ruth Brown is generally in good form (especially on "St. Louis Blues") but sticks around too long on "If I Can't Sell It." In contrast, Linda Hopkins (who appears to not know the melody of "After You've Gone") is overly dramatic, uses an excess of vibrato and comes across as a soul singer from the '60s. In general, Black and Blue is reminiscent of the '50s Hollywood version of early jazz with anachronisms aplenty.