Back in 1959 a young Anne Phillips released her debut album, ‘Born to be Blue’ on Roulette Records, following it up a mere 41 years later with her next album, ‘Gonna Lay My Heart On The Line’. This live album was released in 2019, and captures Anne more in a one-woman show than a straightforward jazz gig, as she tell stories about her career in music. She is accompanied by her husband saxophonist Bob Kindred (who passed away in 2016, and without the CD in front me I can’t say when this was actually recorded), Roger Kellaway on piano and bassist Chuck Berghoffer. The result is a wonderfully warm intimate album, where she regales us with her life which takes us all on a journey. She even talks about being a backing singer on the original “It’s My Party and I’ll Cry If I Want To”, and her time as a singer on advertising on jingles and even provides some examples!

She never stopped singing and writing, and although it may have taken more than forty years for her to release another album, she has had an interesting career. On top of that, she is a wonderful singer, and all those years doing different styles has provided her with a maturity and understanding of her voice sadly lacked by many. There is just one song from the debut, “Easy Street”, and she can provide the vocal gymnastics when she needs to, such as on “Watching You Watching Me”, but for most of the time she has is happy for the guys to do that when the time is right. Even if there was no talking, I would be recommending this album as the music is such a delight and so inviting, but with all the conversation it is even more so. Wonderful.

Rating: 8/10

Links:
https://annephillips.com/