Early Chris Connor: 1953

It's no secret that three of my favorite female vocalists are Julie London, Sarah Vaughan and Chris Connor. Yesterday, I was listening to Chris with Stan Kenton in the spring of 1953 and Sy Oliver in December of that year. Prior to Kenton, Chris in 1952 recorded as a solo singer with Jerry Wald and then Claude Thornhill. She had already been with Thornhill in 1949 as part of the Snowflakes vocal group. Much of her 1952 work was good but unfortunately she was framed either by Wald's rinky-dink arrangements or Thornhill's time-for-bed charts. The excitement picked up dramatically when Chris was provoked by Kenton's and Oliver's brass.

Here's Chris Connor with Kenton in 1953 on Jeepers Creepers...



Here's Chris with Kenton on All About Ronnie...