Diahann Carroll Discography: The André Previn Trio

Diahann Carroll: The André Previn Trio (1960)

The Party's Over
(Comden, Green, Styne) from Bells Are Ringing
Spring Is Here
(R. Rodgers and L. Hart) from I Married An Angel
But Not For Me
(I. Gershwin, G. Gershwin) from Girl Crazy
Glad To Be Unhappy
(R. Rodgers, L. Hart) from On Your Toes
Change Of Heart
(Dory Langdon and Andre Previn)
It's Alright With Me
(Cole Porter) from Can-Can
I Should Care
(Stordahl, Weston, Chan) from Thrill of a Romance
Nobody's Heart
(R. Rodgers, L. Hart) from By Jupiter
Why Can't You Behave
(Cole Porter) from Kiss Me, Kate
Where Are You
(J. MacHugh, H. Adamson)
In Love In Vain
(Jerome Kern, Leo Robin) from Centennial Summer
Gingerbread Joy
(Dory Langdon and Andre Previn)

ALBUM INFO

Produced by Jack Lewis.
Arranged by André Previn.

This is the original back sleeve notes:

To few singers is given the great art of versatility. By far the majority can offer up only one style, one mood, one flavour.
Diahann Carroll, as you'll see if you play any two songs in this album, is one of the chosen few. Her performances here could be likened to the life cycle of a rose - she is, at the time, as dewy and fresh as a bud; again she can be rich and hearty, like a rose at its moment of glory; and, finally, she is often blasé and world-weary, like a blossom which is over the hill.
This range of talent is all the more amazing when you realize that Miss Carroll is still an extremely young woman. Perhaps it is because of this very youth that she can do so much with her voice; she hasn't yet had time for her musical approache to set into one inflexible mold. The difference, for example, between But Not For Me and Nobody's Heart is so great you might think two different girls were at the controls.
Possibly, as the years go by, a definitive Diahann Carroll style will evolve. Let us hope not. It is refreshing to have a singer who alters her approach to suit the song, tailors her voice to the material. On this album you will find a gentle, innocent, childlike Diahann Carroll (as on Change Of Heart), who will make you think of a young girl in the first, awful throes of blighted puppy-love. And then there's a happy-go-lucky, steaming-with-life Diahann Carroll (as on But Not For Me), thoroughly enjoying herself and the lyrics she sings.
There's a sly, tounge-in-voice Diahann Carroll (as on I Should Care), doing vocal tricks consciously and revelling in their success. There's a ballad-singing Diahann Carroll (as on Nobody's Heart), showing her ability at phrasing and her fine voice quality and range. And ther are several degrees of blusey Diahann Carroll, from the tragic, pull-out-the-hanky flavour of In Love In Vain through the insinuating quality of Why Can't You Behave to the low-down, dirty blues touch she gives to The Party's Over.
And there's a genuine torchy-style Diahann Carroll (as on Where Are You), which will conjure up visions of speakeasies and vamps.
Andre Previn and his trio are in league with Miss Carroll in her plan to show her many sides on this album. Diahann says "I am trying my wings here, and would do it only with Previn at the piano." Previn can make a ballad sound even tenderer with his backgrounds; on two of them, he uses a celeste to good effect. He can make a blues seem bluer with his minor-key counterpoint. And his arrangements can make an up-tempo number, like It's All Right With Me, move with a driving rhythm; on this one there's a fine string bass introduction.
But Previn, despite some piano choruses which will please his fans, sensibly keeps in the background here. This is really Diahann Carroll's album, and Previn merely does what a good accompanist should do - accompany. Of course, he accompanies as you'd expect a brilliant artist to accompany - there are flights of pianistic fancy here and there, brief samples of his inventive genius.
But, basically, what we have here is Diahann Carroll, exploring many styles of singing. You'll hear voice quality ranging from smoky to sweet. You'll hear expressivness, ranging from sad catches in the throat to exuberant chortles.
Out of these varied songs, these many approaches, emerges one crystal-clear fact: Diahann Carroll has matured into one of todays more talented performers, and on this album she proves that she can turn a musical phrase and fashion a vocal interpretation with the best of them.
-Dick Kleiner (Record columnist for Newspaper Enterprise Assn.)

CD EDITIONS

Released on CD in 2005, as part of the The Magic of Diahann Carroll compilation CD.

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