Nearly seventy years after these sessions were recorded, these performances still make a simple case: David Allen was a wonderful singer who deserves to be heard.
Fresh Sound Records
David Allen — A Sure Thing: David Allen Sings Jerome Kern
Johnny Mandel, arranger/conductor; Jimmy Rowles, piano; Howard Roberts, guitar; Red Mitchell, bass; Shelly Manne, drums; Bud Shank, Abe Most, Jules Jacob, reeds; Stu Williamson, trumpet/valve trombone; Stella Castellucci, harp.
David Allen — Let’s Face the Music and Dance
Bill Holman, Johnny Mandel and Jimmy Rowles, arrangers; Jimmy Rowles, piano; Al Hendrickson, guitar; Joe Mondragon, bass; Mel Lewis, drums; Harry Klee, flute/alto sax; Bill Perkins, Med Flory, tenor sax; Steve Perlow, baritone sax; Jack Sheldon, Lee Katzman, Ed Leddy, Al Porcino, trumpets; Dave Wells, trombone.
Not every outstanding jazz singer remains in the public conversation forever. David Allen is proof of that. Fresh Sound Records has spent more than four decades rescuing artists like Allen from that fate, reissuing long out-of-print jazz recordings with carefully remastered sound and informative booklets. This reissue brings together A Sure Thing: David Allen Sings Jerome Kern and Let’s Face the Music and Dance, two late-1950s albums that remind us just how much fine music can slip through the cracks of jazz history.
Allen’s voice has a warmth that immediately draws you in, but it’s his phrasing that keeps you listening. On ballads, he takes his time with the words, letting each phrase carry its full meaning. On swingers, he plays with the rhythm, pushing and pulling against the beat without ever making it sound forced.
The Jerome Kern program, arranged by Johnny Mandel, leans toward the romantic. On “Lovely to Look At,” Allen’s smooth baritone brings Johnny Hartman to mind, but the resemblance fades as he settles into the song. A graceful guitar line follows his vocal phrases, with bass and subtle percussion adding color without distracting from the vocal. “The Folks Who Live on the Hill” opens with an orchestral sweep before Allen enters with a dramatic reading of the melody. There is no attempt to swing the song; Allen treats it almost like a monologue, giving every word its full weight as strings swirl behind him.
On Let’s Face the Music and Dance, Bill Holman’s arrangements give Allen a different setting. “Sittin’ on Top of the World” swings from the opening bars, with Allen playing with the time and placing his phrases just behind or ahead of the beat. The timing feels spontaneous, even though every phrase lands exactly where it should. “They All Laughed” may be even better. Allen almost talks his way into the song, his conversational phrasing making it feel like he’s telling you a story. The title track closes the album with Holman’s buoyant big-band writing lifting Allen’s voice without ever overwhelming it.
David Allen was admired by his fellow singers and musicians, but his name never became as familiar as some of the other great vocalists of his era. Nearly seventy years after these sessions were recorded, these performances still make a simple case: David Allen was a wonderful singer who deserves to be heard.
