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album review
Warm, handsome, intimate, romantic, personable, and charming, gentle-voiced Russ Columbo sang songs of love, happiness, and heartbreak in a richly sentimental manner without ever sounding false or affected. This was his natural element. Poised at the portal of a promising career as recording artist and star of radio and motion pictures, his accidental death at the age of 26 pulled the plug as it were, leaving only 32 studio recordings for posterity to savor. Of those recordings, 23 are included in Living Era's tribute to this archetypal crooner. Anyone seeking context for the careers of Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Perry Como, Billy Eckstine, and Nat King Cole should tap into this compilation. During his brief professional life, Columbo helped to set the standard for both pop and jazz ballad singing for the remainder of the 20th century. His recorded works are useful if one is in need of straightforward primary renditions of these old-fashioned melodies. Columbo's 1931 performance of his own composition "Prisoner of Love" is the perfect prelude to the Lester Young/Teddy Wilson rendition of 1956. Columbo's passionate handling of "Just Friends" contains thrilling premonitions of later interpretations by Billie Holiday and Charlie Parker. ~ arwulf arwulf, All Music Guide
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