PEOPLE MAGAZINE

BORN TO BE BLUE    ANNE PHILLIPS

Imagine: Britney and the Back Street Boys wake up tomorrow to find that a brand-new genre of music has swept them from the pop charts, rendering them overnight has-beens. Impossible -- or wishful thinking? Well, that's precisely what happened to a generation of breathy balladeers whose dominance of the 1950s hit parade ended abruptly with the coming of rock and roll. This exquisite 1959 album of pop standards was one of many crushed by the rock. despite a few worshipful reviews, it was shelved, along with phillips's pop dreams, shortly after its release. Although it lacks the essential ingredient that made rock roll -- a backbeat -- this reissue is a lovely reminder of how dreamy pop once was.

STEVE SOUGHERTY

 

 

 

ANNE PHILLIPS
Born To Be Blue
Conawago 1005
Butch Berman, Berman Music Foundation JAZZ

The major perk for me since forming the Berman Music Foundation in '95 is being able to call many of my musical idols my friends. I feel that somehow just the energy created from the mutual respect between the fan and artist helps keep jazz spinning on its mighty, but sometimes fragile axis.

Well, I've been flippin' like a top as I was fortunate enough to receive incredible pieces of work from two friends of mine a day apart. .One was from old pal, Kendra Shank and the other was

Well…when Anne called to tell me that her new Conawago re-release of the obscure torch classic, “Born to be Blue,” was now out on CD and on the way to me, I was thrilled. When she mentioned strings I had second thoughts only because I’ve always liked the combo of small groups with vocals and tended to feel that strings schmaltz it up too much. Not so in this case.

Backed by a perfect selection of swinging jazz history, I must mention all: Bernie Leighton, piano; Milt Hinton/George DuVivier, bass; Ossie Johnson, drums; Barry Galbraith/Mundell Lowe, guitar, Doc Severenson, trumpet and Walt Levinsky, woodwinds. With this superb backdrop blanketing her, her deft choice of material becomes musical vignettes of life.

I truly started weeping in the car to Anne’s poignant rendition of “You Don’t Know What Love Is” making me remember someone I’d almost forgotten ’til this song tore my heart apart. Now that’s storytelling.

Any information on obtaining this CD as well as other works by Ms. Phillips, The Jazz Nativity, Kindred Spirits Foundation and Bob Kindred can be found on her new web site, www.annephillips.com