any years ago, during one of my LP buying sprees, I purchased an album by one of my very favorite vocalists, Sarah Vaughan. I bought it strictly out of love for Sarah's vocal capabilities, and didn't pay any attention to who else was on the album. It wasn't until I reached home and had time to properly browse the personnel that I realized I had just purchased a storeroom of talent. The album featured Clifford Brown on trumpet, Paul Quinichette on tenor, Herbie Mann on flute, Jimmy Jones (one of my favourites) on piano, Joe Benjamin on bass and Roy Haynes on drums. The selected tunes for the album were all wonderful, including Embraceable You, September Song, He's My Guy, April in Paris and others. My favorite turned out to be April in Paris.

Sarah's poignant reminiscence of that great city is absolutely incredible, for she somehow manages to use the warm and silken quality of her voice to portray the lyrics of this wonderful tune – to give the words extra meaning. It is an immaculate performance on her part.

When one is making an album with such a monumentally talented vocalist as Sassy, a problem arises when you are asked to follow an almost perfect vocal chorus with an instrumental solo. I feel that Clifford Brown on this particular selection not only met the task, but exceeded it, by himself creating a totally new reading and execution of the tune. He creates highlights and moments of nostalgia filled with the poignancy of his mellow sound on the instrument. Needless to say, his ideas are flawless and, most importantly, tied together like the words in the most philosophical of lyrics. I harvested a lot of musical savvy from this record in its totality, but most especially from this rendition of April in Paris. Were I to be a reviewer, I would have to give Sarah five stars and award another separate five stars to Clifford Brown for his tasteful, musical, pensive, yet not overbearing flow of ideas that led most musically back into Sarah's performance. This album is a tremendous learning piece, not only for aspiring vocalists, but also for musicians intent on gaining the ability to use the utmost sensitivity in following a vocalist with a solo of their own. I leave you, should you play this album, to make your own judgements.

The album is simply titled, Sarah Vaughan.