The Divine One
Sarah Vaughan
A top-notch documentary on one of the finest singers of all time
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Sarah Vaughan (1924-90) was one of the most remarkable singers ever, not only in jazz but in all of music.
Blessed with a wondrous voice, Vaughan began in bebop (which she mastered by 1946) and spent the next 40 years uplifting swinging jazz standards, ballads and pop tunes; her only real competition was Ella Fitzgerald.
The Divine One is a pretty definitive hour-long documentary that has comments by her daughters Paris and Ada, singers Billy Eckstine and Joe Williams, arranger Marty Paich, pianist George Gaffney, and drummer Roy Haynes.
Filled with performance excerpts and reminiscences from Vaughan herself, The Divine One (which in this version has Italian subtitles) does a definitive job of summing up Sarah Vaughan’s life and career.
-Scott Yanow
Ella Fitzgerald