The first seven numbers on Confessin' the Blues show off Esther Phillips doing sophisticated, big-band blues (backed by a small orchestra led by Onzy Matthews) and giving direct and pointed yet elegant performances of "Confessin' the Blues," "I'm Gettin' 'Long Alright," and "C.
C.
Rider." The last four numbers, which comprise nearly 24 minutes, have Phillips doing a jazzier set to start with, backed by a leaner band (most notably Jack Wilson on piano), in a set produced for record by King Curtis.
The final medley of "Bow Top Blues"/"Jelly Roll Blues"/"Long John Blues" is the highlight of the set, showing Phillips in a bluesy setting.
The quality of the recording is excellent and comes out well here.
Phillips and her principal accompanists, Herb Ellis (guitar) and Lou Blackburn (trombone), are in excellent form on this 1966 set.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | I WonderCecil Gant, Raymond Leveen | Esther Phillips | Play | 03:00 | 6 MB | 0 MB |
| 2 | Confessin' the BluesWalter Brown, Jay McShann | Esther Phillips | Play | 03:01 | 6 MB | 0 MB |
| 3 | Romance in the DarkLillian "Lil" Green | Esther Phillips | Play | 03:34 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 4 | C.C. RiderTraditional | Esther Phillips | Play | 02:47 | 6 MB | 0 MB |
| 5 | Cherry RedBill Lazarus, Jack Moon | Esther Phillips | Play | 04:36 | 10 MB | 0 MB |
| 6 | I Love ParisCole Porter | Esther Phillips | Play | 04:09 | 9 MB | 0 MB |
| 7 | It Could Happen to YouJohnny Burke, James Van Heusen | Esther Phillips | Play | 04:04 | 9 MB | 0 MB |
| 8 | Bye Bye BlackbirdMort Dixon, Ray Henderson | Esther Phillips | Play | 04:49 | 11 MB | 0 MB |
| 9 | Blow Top Blues/Jelly Jelly Blues/Long John BluesLeonard Feather | Esther Phillips | Play | 10:40 | 24 MB | 0 MB |
| 10 | I'm Gettin' Long Alright | Esther Phillips | Play | 03:01 | 6 MB | 0 MB |
| 11 | In the Evenin' | Esther Phillips | Play | 02:57 | 6 MB | 0 MB |
| 46 mins | 107 MB | |||||
| 0 mins | 0 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Donald Bailey | Drums, Guest Artist |
| 2 | Gabe Baltazar | Sax (Alto) |
| 3 | Lou Blackburn | Trombone |
| 4 | Walter Brown | Composer |
| 5 | Johnny Burke | Composer |
| 6 | Leroy Carr | Composer |
| 7 | Louis Ciotti | Sax (Tenor) |
| 8 | Bill Clark | Trumpet |
| 9 | Sonny Criss | Guest Artist, Sax (Alto) |
| 10 | James Dalton | Trumpet |
| 11 | Mort Dixon | Composer |
| 12 | Teddy Edwards | Guest Artist, Sax (Tenor) |
| 13 | Herb Ellis | Guest Artist, Guitar |
| 14 | Nesuhi Ertegun | Producer |
| 15 | Leonard Feather | Composer, Liner Notes |
| 16 | Cecil Gant | Composer |
| 17 | Charles Grant | Drums |
| 18 | Rodgers Grant | Piano |
| 19 | Lillian "Lil" Green | Composer |
| 20 | Wally Heider | Engineer |
| 21 | Ray Henderson | Composer |
| 22 | James Van Heusen | Composer |
| 23 | Ike Isaacs | Bass |
| 24 | King Curtis | Producer |
| 25 | Bill Lazarus | Composer |
| 26 | Richard Leith | Trombone |
| 27 | Raymond Leveen | Composer |
| 28 | Onzy Matthews | Arranger, Director, Piano |
| 29 | Jay McShann | Composer |
| 30 | Jay Migliori | Sax (Baritone) |
| 31 | Jack Moon | Composer |
| 32 | Melvin Moore | Trumpet |
| 33 | Peter Myers | Trombone |
| 34 | Roland Myers | Trombone |
| 35 | Ron Myers | Trombone |
| 36 | Esther Phillips | Primary Artist, Vocals |
| 37 | Al Porcino | Trumpet |
| 38 | Cole Porter | Composer |
| 39 | Chuck Rainey | Guitar (Electric) |
| 40 | Don Raye | Composer |
| 41 | Bob Rolfe | Trumpet |
| 42 | Robert Rolfe | Trumpet |
| 43 | Ira Schulman | Sax (Tenor) |
| 44 | Bobby Sharp | Composer |
| 45 | Charlie Singleton | Composer |
| 46 | James Smith | Trumpet |
| 47 | Traditional | Composer |
| 48 | Ray Triscari | Sax (Alto) |
| 49 | Francis Vaz | Guitar |
| 50 | Victor Venegas | Bass |
| 51 | Jack Wilson | Guest Artist, Piano, Piano (Electric) |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |