A great slice of work from the early years of Ernestine Anderson – one of her key swingers for Mercury, and the kind of record that should have made her huge at the time! There's a hip-stepping quality here that points nicely towards the 60s – a bit more of a bounce in the backings, almost a Basie-esque quality at times – thanks to arrangements from Ernie Wilkins and Gigi Gryce, both of whom bring a great ear for horn charts to the date. Anderson's inherent sense of soul really opens up strongly with both arrangers – swinging with poise one minute, but
bluesy undercurrents the next – in ways that really mark the record as coming from the more jazz-based side of late 50s Mercury
spectrum. Titles include "Harlem Nocturne", "A New Town Is A Blue Town", "Nobody's Heart", "I Got Rhythm", "Beale Street
Blues", "My Heart Belongs To Daddy", and "I Wish I Was Back In My Baby's Arms"
(Mono white label promo with deep groove. Cover has some staining –but mostly on the back around the edges, tiny splits on the top & bottom seams – but the front cover looks nice overall.)