Nicknamed "Sailor" (for her salty speech), "Sassy" and "The Divine One", Sarah Vaughan was a Grammy Award winner. The National Endowment for the Arts bestowed upon her its "highest honor in jazz", the NEA Jazz Masters Award, in 1989.
Possessor of one of the most wondrous voices of the 20th century, Sarah Vaughan ranked with Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday in the very top echelon of female jazz singers. She often gave the impression that with her wide range, perfectly controlled vibrato, and wide expressive abilities, she could do anything she wanted with her voice. Although not all of her many recordings are essential (give Vaughan a weak song and she might strangle it to death), Sarah Vaughan's legacy as a performer and a recording artist will be very difficult to match in the future.
Vaughan sang in church as a child and had extensive piano lessons from 1931-39; she developed into a capable keyboardist. After she won an amateur contest at the Apollo Theater, she was hired for the Earl Hines big band as a singer and second vocalist. Unfortunately, the musicians' recording strike kept her off record during this period (1943-44). When lifelong friend Billy Eckstine broke away to form his own orchestra, Vaughan joined him, making her recording debut. She loved being with Eckstine's orchestra, where she became influenced by a couple of his sidemen, Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, both of whom had also been with Hines during her stint. Vaughan was one of the first singers to fully incorporate bop phrasing in her singing, and to have the vocal chops to pull it off on the level of a Parker and Gillespie.
Other than a few months with John Kirby from 1945-46, Sarah Vaughan spent the remainder of her career as a solo star. Although she looked a bit awkward in 1945 (her first husband George Treadwell would greatly assist her with her appearance), there was no denying her incredible voice. She made several early sessions for Continental: a December 31, 1944 date highlighted by her vocal version of "A Night in Tunisia," which was called "Interlude," and a May 25, 1945 session for that label that had Gillespie and Parker as sidemen. However, it was her 1946-48 selections for Musicraft (which included "If You Could See Me Now," "Tenderly" and "It's Magic") that found her rapidly gaining maturity and adding bop-oriented phrasing to popular songs. Signed to Columbia where she recorded during 1949-53, "Sassy" continued to build on her popularity. Although some of those sessions were quite commercial, eight classic selections cut with Jimmy Jones' band during May 18-19, 1950 (an octet including Miles Davis) showed that she could sing jazz with the best.
During the 1950s, Vaughan recorded middle-of-the-road pop material with orchestras for Mercury, and jazz dates (including Sarah Vaughan, a memorable collaboration with Clifford Brown) for the label's subsidiary, EmArcy. Later record label associations included Roulette (1960-64), back with Mercury (1963-67), and after a surprising four years off records, Mainstream (1971-74). Through the years, Vaughan's voice deepened a bit, but never lost its power, flexibility or range. She was a masterful scat singer and was able to out-swing nearly everyone (except for Ella). Vaughan was with Norman Granz's Pablo label from 1977-82, and only during her last few years did her recording career falter a bit, with only two forgettable efforts after 1982. However, up until near the end, Vaughan remained a world traveler, singing and partying into all hours of the night with her miraculous voice staying in prime form. The majority of her recordings are currently available, including complete sets of the Mercury/Emarcy years, and Sarah Vaughan is as famous today as she was during her most active years.
1944- 1949.Sarah Vaughan- A Portrait Of Sarah Vaughan (2CD)
1946- 1947.Sarah Vaughan- The Chronological Classics
1949- 1953.Sarah Vaughan- The Divine Sarah Vaughan(the CBS Years 1949-1953, 2CD)
1950- 1954.Sarah Vaughan- Sassy (Giant Of Jazz)
1954- 1955.Sarah Vaughan- Sarah Vaughan & In The Land Of Hi-fi
1954.Sarah Vaughan & Clifford Brown
1955.Sarah Vaughan- In The Land Of Hi-Fi
1955.Sarah Vaughan- It`s You or No One
1957.Sarah Vaughan & Billy Eckstine- The Irving Berlin Songbook
1957.Sarah Vaughan And Her Trio - At Mister Kelly's
1957.Sarah Vaughan- Swingin' Easy
1958.Sarah Vaughan- After Hours At The London House
1958.Sarah Vaughan- No Count Sarah
1958.Sarah Vaughan- Vaughan And Violins
1960.Count Basie & Sarah Vaughan
1960.Sarah Vaughan- The Divine One
1961.Sarah Vaughan- After Hours
1962.Sarah Vaughan- Sarah + 2
1963.Sarah Vaughan- Sarah Sings Soulfully
1965.Sarah Vaughan Sings The Mancini Songbook
1965.Sarah Vaughan- Viva!Vaughan
1967.Sarah Vaughan- It's A Man's World
1971.Sarah Vaughan- A Time In My Life
1972.Sarah Vaughan With The Michel Legrand Orchestra
1972.Sarah Vaughan- Feelin' Good
1972.Sarah Vaughan- The Divine One
1973.Sarah Vaughan- Live In Japan (2 CD)
1974.Sarah Vaughan- Send In the Clowns
1975.Sarah Vaughan & The Jimmy Rowles Quintet
1977.Sarah Vaughan- I Love Brazil!
1978.Sarah Vaughan- How Long Has This Been Going On
1978.Sarah Vaughan- O Som Brasileiro De
1979.Sarah Vaughan- Copacabana
1981.Sarah Vaughan & The Count Basie Orchestra- Send In The Clowns
1981.Sarah Vaughan- Songs Of The Beatles
1982.Sarah Vaughan- Crazy And Mixed Up
1982.Sarah Vaughan- Gershwin Live
1983.Sarah Vaughan- The Divine
1985.Sarah Vaughan- The Divine One
1985.Sarah Vaughan- The Rodgers & Hart Songbook (1954-1958)
1986.Sarah Vaughan- The Complete Sarah Vaughan On Mercury.Vol.1- Great Jazz Years; 1954-1956
1986.Sarah Vaughan- The Complete Sarah Vaughan On Mercury.Vol.2- Sings Great American Songs; 1956-1957
1986.Sarah Vaughan- The Complete Sarah Vaughan On Mercury.Vol.3- Great Show On Stage; 1957-1959
1986.Sarah Vaughan- The Complete Sarah Vaughan On Mercury.Vol.4- 1963-1967
1987.Sarah Vaughan- Brazilian Romance
1990.Sarah Vaughan with Quincy Jones- Misty
1990.Sarah Vaughan- Autour De Minuit
1990.Sarah Vaughan- The George Gershwin Songbook (2CD)
1992.Sarah Vaughan- Tenderly
1994.Sarah Vaughan- The Benny Carter Sessions (1962-1963)
1994.Sarah Vaughan- Verve Jazz Masters 18
1995.Sarah Vaughan- Verve Jazz Masters 42 (The Jazz Sides)
1997.Sarah Vaughan- In Hi-Fi
1998.Sarah Vaughan- Duke Ellington Songbook (2CD)
1998.Sarah Vaughan- The Man I Love (Giants Of Jazz)
2000.Sarah Vaughan- Sarah Vaughan
2001.Sarah Vaughan- Young Sassy (4 CD)
2002.Sarah Vaughan- Black Coffee
2002.Sarah Vaughan- Street of Dreams
2002.Sarah Vaughan- The Complete Roulette Sarah Vaughan Studio Session(1960- 1962 ,8 CD)
2003.Sarah Vaughan- Sarah for Lovers
2003.Sarah Vaughan- Summertime (1944-1950,Giants Of Jazz)
2004.Sarah Vaughan- Time After Time
2006.Sarah Vaughan- Supreme Jazz
2007.Sarah Vaughan- Columbia Jazz Profile
2007.Sarah Vaughan- Jazz Anthology
2007.Sarah Vaughan- Sophisticated Lady
2007.Sarah Vaughan- The Great American Songbook (2CD)
2007.Sarah Vaughan- XX Century Retropanorama
