by Michael P Coleman
Like Jazz, it only happens once…A Stolen Moment.
It’s a line a wish I’d written, and was used to promote a 1992 concert that was to be Diana Ross’ first foray into jazz in two decades. The show would result in the finest live recording of Ross’ career thus far.
The tag line perfectly encapsulates the feeling that a few hundred of Ross’ most ardent fans experienced on December 4 at the Ritz Theatre in New York City. Luckily, the show was filmed and recorded, and a live album, the awkwardly-entitled Diana Ross Live! The Lady Sings…Jazz and Blues: Stolen Moments was released the following spring, to critical acclaim.
Flanked by some of the world’s greatest musicians, and orchestrated by the late Gil Askey and trumpeter Jon Faddis, Ross would perform many of the selections from her Academy Award-winning 1972 film Lady Sings The Blues, her first feature film, for which she had won the Golden Globe for Best Actress.
Ross started the concert a bit tentatively, with “Fine And Mellow” and a few other Billie Holiday favorites. But when she waded into the small, intimate audience, cooing “Someday he’ll come along, the man I love…” coming face-to-face with the some of the luckiest Ross fans on the planet, the show truly came to life. Ross’ performance throughout the show is flat-footed and confident, and the live recording is the best she has delivered in a career that now spans seven decades.
Veteran jazz producer Ben Sidran was recruited to produce the audio for the live broadcast and the subsequent Motown album. According to Sidran, Ross’ hands-on approach to getting things done initially threw him.
“I absolutely thought it was a prank,” Sidran said by phone. “One day the phone rang, and someone said ‘This is Diana Ross.’ I didn’t believe her! I was on a list of jazz producers who’d been recommended to her, with my having had experience in popular music, in urban music, as well as experience with television and video production.”
“She was in between deals with Motown, and it seemed like it was a project in the process of finding its feet,” Sidran continued. “By the end of the phone call, she made me feel like I was a good candidate for the job.”
Read freelance writer MPC’s full feature, including EXCLUSIVE comments from veteran jazz producer Ben Sidran and the legendary saxophonist Ralph Moore. Read all about the “read” Ross, including her sharing brandy from her personal silver flask in the mixing studio, and hanging out with the band during rehearsals!
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