How Long Has This Been Going On?

When Sarah Vaughan recorded this session in 1978, her voice was still one of the finest instruments in jazz, an almost impossible combination of resonant depths, subtly sparkling highs, and myriad slides that could join one note or word to the next. She's accompanied here by an all-star quartet of pianist Oscar Peterson, guitarist Joe Pass, bassist Ray Brown, and drummer Louis Bellson. There are moments of inspired exchange and improvisatory brilliance from the quartet, but the emphasis is less on their skills as soloists than on their extraordinary taste, Peterson and Pass revealing once again their special abilities as supporting players, highlighting another artist's every note. Vaughan's performances here of "Midnight Sun" and "Body and Soul" are virtuosic statements, as inspired as anything in her later career. --Stuart Broomer