Complete Peggy Lee & June Christy Capitol Transcription Sessions

AMG Review of Complete Peggy Lee & June Christy Capitol Transcription Sessions

Dave Nathan
All Music Guide

Mosaic, the Rolls-Royce of record companies, has produced another of its limited-edition gems (5,000 copies and no more). This five-CD boxed set highlights the early work of two of the more famous vocal graduates of the swing era -- Peggy Lee and June Christy. Recently signed by Capitol, they were the company's attempt to break into the transcription business. Transcriptions were records provided to radio stations to fill a constant need for music that regular commercial releases were unable to meet. Most of the songs on this album, cuts from 1945 through 1949, were never before or since recorded by Lee and Christy, so they are a nice addition to their respective discographies. Of the two, Peggy Lee's style is clearly the most advanced. She had a successful tenure with Benny Goodman in the early '40s. After completing a hiatus as a homemaker for her husband, Dave Barbour, who accompanies her on several of these cuts, she started recording with Capitol in 1946. Her languid, laid-back approach that was to characterize her singing for the next 50-plus years was pretty well-developed by this time. In contrast, June Christy, who had just joined the Stan Kenton band, was still searching for her singing personality. The early cuts reveal she was still very much bound to Billie Holiday's style. But, by the time of the 1946 sessions on this album, the voice that was to become one of the most recognized by popular song fans, with Kenton and, later, with Pete Rugolo, Lou Levy, and others began to unfold. One surprise on the Christy sides is the valve-trombone work by Gene Roland. Noted more for his arranging skills than his soloing, his trombone work glistens on such cuts as "How High the Moon." Like all Mosaic releases, this album comes with complete annotations and an informative booklet.