Esther Phillips: What A Diff

She always had her finger on the pulse of the listening public. Little Esther had started climbing the stairway to stardom at age thirteen, after an impressive amateur night performance at the Largo Theater in Los Angeles. Having gained notice, she toured the country in 1950 with the Johnny Otis band for Savoy Records. Throughout much of the decade following, Little Esther rode a wave of Rhythm & Blues popularity that introduced her to a wide audience that was thirsty for the kind of emotional hipness that she so naturally exhibited. Her career stalled for a few years, however, toward the end of the decade.

Taking the name Esther Phillips in 1962, she had a brief comeback with a few recordings and appearances here and there. Her second significant comeback came just about ten years later, with What A Diff’rence A Day Makes. Joe Beck provided hot musical arrangements and provided soulful guitar solos on several tracks. David Sanborn’s soulful interlude graces the title track, which is performed as a fast moving disco strut. The album’s bonus track is an alternate take of “What a Diff’rence a Day Makes,” in which Beck replaces Sanborn. There are other significant jazz moments on this otherwise pop-soul-disco album. “One Night Affair” and “Hurtin’ House” feature soulful tenor solos by Michael Brecker, and “I Can Stand a Little Rain” finds the Brecker brothers trading with Phillips. Elsewhere, you can hear the screeching trumpet section, which includes Jon Faddis along with Randy Brecker. Reissue of this classic CTI album serves two purposes: it welcomes a session of stellar studio work from a handful of superb jazz artists, and it brings back one significant chapter from the glory years that we remember from Little Esther’s career.