Summertime with Blossom Dearie

I caught onto Blossom Dearie only recently. I’d always thought of her as a perky cabaret-type singer who did some quirky tunes (Peel Me a Grape, Sweet Georgie Fame) with jazz inflections. Once I actually tuned in to her music, I was hooked. I’ve been listening to a lot of Dearie lately, so when I ran across one of her albums at the local Goodwill, it stood out like a diamond in a pile of Big Head Todd and the Monsters albums. Seeing one of my favorites of hers listed on the back clinched the deal. Once Upon a Summertime, the title track, is a good example of her ability to sing a sad song without making it either over dramatic or lachrymose. She sings Tea for Two, including the verse, in a slower, more reflective mode than most singers, emphasizing that the happiness of the couple in the song is one that may lie in the future but not the here and now. She does something similar with the notoriously bouncy Surrey with the Fringe on Top.

My favorite tracks are the more upbeat ones, though. Down with Love has great anti-love lyrics, and Dearie tears through it with gusto. She also moves quite jauntily through If I Were a Bell, her small, clear appropriately bell-like. On all of the tracks she accompanies herself quite nicely on piano, aided by Mundell Lowe on guitar (check out his tasty solo on Our Love is Here to Stay), Ray Brown on bass, and Ed Thigpen on drums.

So, yes, I slept on Blossom Dearie for far too long, but I’m trying to catch up. That favorite I talked about at the beginning? Moonlight Savings Time. In less than two minutes, Dearie does a great job with a cute old song and adds a nice piano solo – as good an introduction as any to this unique artist.