🎷 AotW: Kudu Esther Phillips: From a Whisper to a Scream (Kudu Records KU-05)

Esther Phillips: From a Whisper to a Scream

Kudu Records KU-05
Released 1971

• A1 - Home Is Where The Hatred Is 3:25
• A2 - From A Whisper To A Scream 4:15
• A3 - To Lay Down Beside You 5:00
• A4 - That's All Right With Me 3:20
• A5 - 'Til My Back Ain't Got No Bone 3:15
• B1 - Sweet Touch Of Love 3:15
• B2 - Baby, I'm For Real 4:20
• B3 - Your Love Is So Doggone Good 3:55
• B4 - Scarred Knees 6:15

Alto Saxophone – Hank Crawford
Arranged By – Pee Wee Ellis
Arranged By [Rhythm] – Jack Wilson (tracks: A5, B3, B4)
Arranged By [Strings] – Don Sebesky (tracks: A1 to A4, B2)
Baritone Saxophone – David Liebman
Bass – Gordon Edwards
Cello – Alan Shulman, Charles McCracken
Conductor – Pee Wee Ellis
Drums – Bernard Purdie
Engineer – Rudy Van Gelder
Flugelhorn – John Eckert, John Gatchell
Flute – David Liebman, Frank Vicari
Guitar – Cornell Dupree, Eric Gale
Harp – Margaret Ross
Mastered By – Van Gelder
Organ – Richard Tee
Percussion – Airto Moreira
Photography By – Julie Scherer
Piano – Richard Tee
Producer – Creed Taylor
Tenor Saxophone – Frank Vicari
Trombone – Dick Griffin, Sam Burtis
Trumpet – John Eckert, John Gatchell
Viola – Harold Coletta, Harry Zaratzian
Violin – Alvin Rogers, Charles Libove, Guy Lumia, Jack Zayde, Leo Kahn, Max Hollander, Max Pollikoff, Michael Comins, Paul Winter
Vocals – Barbara Massey, Hilda Harris, Joshie Armstead*, Louis St. Louis, Tasha Thomas


Amazon product ASIN B00INZDGEG

From a Whisper to a Scream, Esther Phillips - Qobuz

Listen to unlimited or download From a Whisper to a Scream by Esther Phillips in Hi-Res quality on Qobuz. Subscription from $10.83/month.

www.qobuz.com

Esther Phillips - From A Whisper To A Scream

Explore songs, recommendations, and other album details for From A Whisper To A Scream by Esther Phillips. Compare different versions and buy them all on Discogs.

www.discogs.com

 

[Rudy]

As I listened to this album, it made me think of how much better Tamiko Jones would have sounded if Creed had waited a few years to record her for the Kudu label. This type of music is what could have made her record so much better. Barbary's as well, for that matter. Both of those records had competent backing, but I didn't feel much inspiration there. This backing sounds similar to what Lou Rawls had on his earliest soul jazz recordings on Capitol (starting with Soulin') and even echoes some of what Al Green had on his earlier records--soul with horns, and not so much jazz at all (which in essence is how Taylor was crafting the Kudu label anyways). IMHO this soul accompaniment to the vocals really wakes up the entire production. Esther's vocal style might not be everyone's cup of tea but I'm diggin' it.

 

[JOv2]

As I listened to this album, it made me think of how much better Tamiko Jones would have sounded if Creed had waited a few years to record her for the Kudu label. This type of music is what could have made her record so much better. Barbary's as well, for that matter. Both of those records had competent backing, but I didn't feel much inspiration there.

I always thought Barbary's delivery was more middleweight (you know like Hank Mobley or Joe Henderson...) and so the studio cats were directed to complement his more reserve vocal approach; yet, who knows, a more fired-up band could have propelled Barbary (either that or they would have ran him over!).

As for Esther...well, uh yeah, it's not for me...but I concede the LP is good and she surely is a first-rate vocalist fully in control of what's up.

 

[Rudy]

I always thought Barbary's delivery was more middleweight (you know like Hank Mobley or Joe Henderson...) and so the studio cats were directed to complement his more reserve vocal approach; yet, who knows, a more fired-up band could have propelled Barbary (either that or they would have ran him over!).

I was thinking the same--a more lively backing might have inspired some stronger vocals and/or production from Taylor to give it some life. Although a low-key vocalist like Bill Withers was able to perform within a more laid back setting and make it work well for him. If you listen to one of his early tracks like "Grandma's Hands," there's minimal accompaniment. But I'll also give him points for having a voice that projected more than Barbary's.

To me, the Barbary and Tamiko albums just sounded like Taylor didn't quite know what to do with either of them, and the accompaniment for both of them was competent but not very inspiring. In other words, it's like he kinda-sorta-maybe wanted to make soul records but didn't quite know what to do with these records--they both just seem to lay there and not do much. Yet once he'd gotten CTI free of A&M's clutches and settled in with some of his records in the 1000 and 6000 series, he was able to start off Kudu in a more soulful direciton right from the start, either doing soul/funk-flavored jazz, or doing an album like Esther's that was soul with a few jazz seasonings thrown into the soup.

As for Esther...well, uh yeah, it's not for me...but I concede the LP is good and she surely is a first-rate vocalist fully in control of what's up.

She has, I think, five more Kudu albums ahead, and they are more like soul/funk than jazz. But that was pretty much Kudu's direction where the music was more soul-focused. Even so, some of the records still glanced off the jazz spectrum (like the Idris Muhammad album Power of Soul, which despite its title would have easily fit on the main CTI label).

I can't say her voice is exactly my cup of tea but on the other hand, I haven't listened to her records all that much. Her voice, in a sense, reminds me of the style of Della Reese.

 

[JOv2]

To me, the Barbary and Tamiko albums just sounded like Taylor didn't quite know what to do with either of them, and the accompaniment for both of them was competent but not very inspiring. In other words, it's like he kinda-sorta-maybe wanted to make soul records but didn't quite know what to do with these records--they both just seem to lay there and not do much. Yet once he'd gotten CTI free of A&M's clutches and settled in with some of his records in the 1000 and 6000 series, he was able to start off Kudu in a more soulful direciton right from the start, either doing soul/funk-flavored jazz, or doing an album like Esther's that was soul with a few jazz seasonings thrown into the soup.

Good points. Creed's non-committal approach may also suggest he was aiming for a soul-pop amalgam (not unlike his jazz-pop mixtures (where, for example, Wes' successful LPs lay somewhere between jazz and pop). On thing about the A&M CTi LPs: Creed definitely emphasized the subtleties -- rather than strong back beats and throbbing electric bass.