Friday, February 13, 2009

Deariest

For nearly a week after Blossom Dearie died, I didn't know about it. Either I'm dangerously out of touch, or her passing didn't attract the attention it should have. It's only through DJ Trouble* at WFMU that I heard of it last night.

The quaintly-named singer and pianist greatly enriched our culture. She took an intelligent and individual approach to those ol' standards. And that voice! Gentle and childlike, and a little sexy as well. Which sounds wrong when you put it all together, but it's not.

Here she is Hammersteining it on the Jack Paar show.


*Trouble is originally from these parts and played "Rhode Island is Famour For You" on her show. I looked for Blossom singing that song on YouTube. No cigar, but she seems to have popularized it with a lot of younger singers.

3 comments:

susan said...

Sweet. Makes you wonder if Ricky Lee Jones spent any time listening to her, hmm?

Matthew Frederick said...

She is great. I had never heard of her 'til your post. Thanks.

Ben said...

Susan, Ricky Lee is a special kind of singer. And she seems to have studied the greats, so I wouldn't be too surprised.

Matthew, glad to make the introduction. She used to pop up on my Friday Random Tens a lot, and probably will again.

Nellie McKay is another singer who I think bears some marks from her.