Various Artists - Blue York Blue York (1996)

BLUE SERIES MONTH (FEBRUARY, 2025)

European import

A compilation loosely based on New York(ish) song titles. And while it starts strong, it is indeed the mixed bag you'd expect from a theme that considers only titles - cocktail jazz, big band, string arrangements, vocal quartet, bebop, easy listening, soul/R&B, blues, even a Tom Waits cover. Plus the tracks were recorded during an usually wide time span: five decades of the 20th century. The album doesn't really work when taken as a whole, but there's some tracks worth discovering.

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Did not chart

Tracks:

1. New York Times - Bobbi Humphrey ✔
   From the 1974 album, Satin Doll
2. On Broadway - Reuben Wilson ✔
   From the 1968 album, On Broadway
3. Hackensack - Jimmy Smith ✔
   From the 1965 album, Softly As A Summer Breeze
4. Stomping At The Savoy - Jim Hall ✔
   From the 1957 album, Jazz Guitar
5. Lullaby Of Birdland - George Shearing
   From the 1961 album, The Swingin's Mutual!
6. Skating In Central Park - Modern Jazz Quartet
   From the 1960 album, Music From 'Odds Against Tomorrow'
7. Blue Harlem - Ike Quebec
   1944 single
8. Take The A Train - The King Sisters
   From the 1958 album, Imagination
9. 52nd Street Theme - Bud Powell
   b-side of Dance Of The Infidels single, 1950
10. Broadway - Dakota Staton
    From the 1957 album, The Late, Late Show
11. City Lights - Lee Morgan ✔
    From the 1958 album, City Lights
12. 116th & Lenox - Jackie McLean
    From the 1960 album, Swing, Swang, Swingin'
13. Jersey Girl - Holly Cole
    From the 1995 album, Temptation
14. Sugar Hill - The Three Sounds
    From the 1968 album, Elegant Soul
15. Harlem River Drive - Bobbi Humphrey ✔
    From the 1974 album, Blacks & Blues. Also included in the series on Blue Break Beats.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None

Previously revisited for the blog:

Blue Bacharach (1999)	Capitol Rare (1999)
Blue Brazil (1999)	Capitol Rare Vol 2 (1999)
Jump Blue (1999)	Capitol Rare Vol 3 (1999)
Blue Beat (1991)	Blue Bossa (1991)
Blue Boogie (1999)	Blue Bossa Vol 2 (1999)
Blue Series Sampler (2001)	Midnight Blue (1999)
Blue Valentines (1999)	Blue Movies (1999)
So Blue So Funky (1991)	Blue 'N' Groovy Vol 2 (1999)
So Blue So Funky Vol 2 (1994)	California Cool (1993)
Blue Break Beats (1992)	Blue 'N' Soul (2001)
Blue Break Beats Vol 3 (1996)	Blue '70s (2000)