That Patterson Girl
Ottilie Patterson with Chris Barber's Jazz Band
Lake Records, LACD 244


Fans of Chris Barber's Jazz Band in the 1950s and early 1960s, and in particular Ottilie Patterson, will be delighted with this newest CD release from Lake Records. It replaces a previous CD, Ottilie Patterson with Chris Barber's Jazz Band 1955-1958 (Lake LACD30), published by Lake in 1993, but out of the catalogue for several years.

Like its predecessor, the new That Patterson Girl CD includes eight tracks from the original EP issues on the Pye/Nixa label, That Patterson Girl and That Patterson Girl Volume 2, plus four other recordings for the same label recorded at more or less the same time. Short excerpts from three of the tracks can be heard here by clicking on the links for Beale Street Blues, 'Taint No Sin, and Trouble In Mind. In addition, there are eleven previously unreleased songs, several from private sources and thus unavailable in any form before now.

Taken together, the CD provides an excellent retrospective of Ottilie's development as a jazz and blues singer over the first nine years that she was a full-time member of the Chris Barber Band. To quote briefly from the sleeve notes: "Ottilie was a compelling performer for her soft-spoken introductions contrasting with her big, powerful renditions of big Blues songs…. The demand for her recordings seems to go on unabated. She is remembered with much affection by the fans. It's not simply nostalgia: she chose a notoriously difficult genre and yet sings Blues more convincingly by far than anyone of her generation."

As with all Lake Records CDs, it almost goes without saying by now, but the entire presentation and packaging of this latest Lake CD is superb, with brilliant re-mastered sound, excellent photographs, and detailed and informative sleeve notes and discographical information.

Music: Beale Street Blues || 'Taint No Sin || Trouble In Mind
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