Nancy Wilson Guess Who I Saw Today: Songs of Lost Love CD

Personnel: Nancy Wilson (vocals); John Michael Gray, John Gray (guitar); Ann Mason Stockton, Catherine Gotthoffer (harp); Gerald Vinci, Mischa Russell, James Getzoff, Anatol Kaminsky, Erno Neufeld, Benny Gill, Jacques Gasselin, Louis Kaufman, Lou Raderman, Ambrose Russo, Albert Steinberg, Edward Bergman, Lou Haderman, Dan Luse, Dan Lube, Marshall Sosson, Sidney Sharp, Victor Arno, Walter Edelstein, Samuel Boghossian (violin); Sanford Schonbach, Louis Kievman, Frederick Soykora, Alvin Dinkin, Allan Harshman, Virginia Majewski (viola); Nathan Fershman, Nino Rosso, David Pratt, Armand Karpoff, Williams Vandenberg, Leporte Lucien, Justin DiTullio, Igor Roroshevsky, Anne Goodman, Raphael Kramer, Frederick Seykora (cello); Bob Hardaway (flute, clarinet, bass clarinet, English horn); Ted Nash, Ted Nash (flute, clarinet); Lew McCreary (reeds, trombone); Jules Jacob, Bill Green , William Calkins, Bill Green (reeds); Chuck Gentry, Harry Klee, Willie Smith, Bill Hood, Wilbur Schwartz (saxophone); John Fowler, Ray Triscari, John Audino (trumpet); David Duke, Henry DeRosa, Richard Mackey, Dwight Carver, Henry Sigismonti, Willie Ruff, Richard Mackey, Henry Sigismonti (French horn); Lew McReary, Ernie Tack, Vern Friley, Joe Howard, Tommy Pederson (trombone); George Shearing, Jack Wilson, Lou Levy (piano); Chuck Berghofer, George Duvivier, Ralph Pena, Sam Jones, Joe Comfort, Buster Williams (bass instrument); Bill Plummer (bass guitar); Dick Garcia, Herb Ellis, Jack Marshall, Al Hendrickson, John Collins (guitar); Harry Bluestone (violin); Justin Gordon (flute, clarinet, bass clarinet, saxophone); Abe Most (flute, clarinet); Bill Perkins, Buddy Collette (reeds, saxophone); Paul Horn (reeds); Cannonball Adderley (alto saxophone); Don Fagerquist, Harry "Sweets" Edison (trumpet); Nat Adderley (cornet); Vincent DeRosa (French horn); Phil Teele (trombone); Donn Trenner (piano, harpsichord); Joe Zawinul, Milt Raskin, Ronnell Bright (piano); Mike Melvoin (organ); Eddie Costa (vibraphone); Earl Palmer , Louis Hayes, Shelly Manne, Stan Levey, Kenny Dennis, Walter Bolden (drums); Larry Bunker (timpani, percussion); Emil Richards (percussion).
Liner Note Author: Will Friedwald.
Recording information: Capitol studios, Los Angeles, CA (05/11/1960-04/02/1968).
Photographer: George Jerman.
Arrangers: George Shearing; Sid Feller; Jimmy Jones ; Oliver Nelson; Billy May.
A song of lost love shouldn't be confused with a torch song. Carrying a torch for someone is a lonely occupation, and torch singers inevitably address only a wall, or a bartender, or perhaps their intended love in absentia. Lost love is a broader lament and can be directed inwardly or outwardly; it can remain alone in its grief or grow accusatory and confrontational. Guess Who I Saw Today: Nancy Wilson Sings Songs of Lost Love is one in a loose series of three Capitol compilations to compile Wilson's late-'50s and early-'60s prime, the others focusing on blues balladry and the Great American Songbook. Many of Wilson's greatest performances fit this disc's concept, suiting her talents at performing songs while adding dramatic turns more associated with speaking than singing. The title track (and opener), "Guess Who I Saw Today," is the best, one of her signature songs. Elsewhere she neatly removes the melodrama from "The Days of Wine and Roses" (no small feat) and injects just the right amount of sober dismissal into "You Can Have Him." ~ John Bush
The title track here--a certifiable vocal jazz classic which finds Nancy Wilson unfurling the narrative of Grand and Boyd's composition with exquisite sensitivity and heartbreaking nuance--is alone worth the price of the album. But with songs like "When Sunny Gets Blue" and the conversational, melancholic "You Can Have Him," the rest of the collection is a winner from start to finish. Wilson is backed by combos (which feature musicians like George Shearing, Cannonball Adderley, and Joe Zawinul) and orchestras (arranged and conducted