*** Welcome to piglix ***

The Complete Porgy and Bess

Porgy and Bess
Porgy and Bess 1956 album.jpg
Studio album by various
Released 1956
Recorded May 1956
Genre Show tunes
Swing
Traditional pop
Vocal jazz
Label Bethlehem Records
various chronology
Porgy and Bess (1951 album)
(1951)
The Complete George Gershwin Porgy and Bess
(1956)

This 1956 recording based on George Gershwin's opera Porgy and Bess was the second "complete" recording of the opera after the 1951 version, and the first recording of the work to feature jazz singers and musicians instead of operatic singers and a classical orchestra.

Russell Garcia arranged Gershwin's work for the Bethlehem Orchestra, the Duke Ellington Orchestra, the Australian Jazz Quintet, the Pat Moran Quartet and the Stan Levey Group. Mel Tormé sang the role of Porgy and Frances Faye the role of Bess. The Ellington Orchestra plays "Summertime" as the overture, but does not appear elsewhere on the album.

Originally released by Bethlehem Records in 1956 (3BP-1); reissued in the 1970s (EXLP-1). Highlights from this recording released by Bethlehem as BCP 6040 and BCP 6009. On CD: Bethlehem Records #BET6028-2 (Released 1994), Rhino Records #75828 (Released 1999).


...
Wikipedia

...