One day in Hollywood
On April 25, 1978, Sarah Vaughan arrived at Group IV Recording Studios in Hollywood. Oscar Peterson played piano, Joe Pass guitar, Ray Brown double bass and Louie Bellson drums. Norman Granz produced, with Val Valentin engineering. That single day became How Long Has This Been Going On?, ten standards bringing together a remarkable breadth of musical experience.
Vaughan was 54 and had joined Pablo the previous year. Granz already knew her through Jazz at the Philharmonic. Here he surrounded her with musicians whose careers reflected long-standing relationships within jazz. Peterson and Brown had spent years in the same trio; Pass and Bellson brought their own extensive histories to the session.
Familiar songs, an individual voice
George and Ira Gershwin wrote the title song for Funny Face, where it was subsequently dropped. “How Long Has This Been Going On?” found a place in Rosalie in 1928, became a standard and eventually lent its name to this recording. These journeys are part of the repertoire’s fascination: a song can keep finding new voices across decades.
It appears alongside “I’ve Got The World On A String”, “Easy Living”, “My Old Flame” and “Body And Soul”. The selection travels through several decades of American popular song. Vaughan approaches it with the experience of a singer for whom a melody offers opportunities for personal expression. Familiar material becomes an invitation to listen afresh.
A line-up worth following
Peterson, Pass, Brown and Bellson offer many ways into attentive listening. How does the piano answer a vocal phrase? Where does the guitar move the harmony? What do bass and drums hold together? Questions like these lead into the music without requiring the listener to analyse an arrangement in order to enjoy it.
The credits identify all five musicians for the album but do not establish the line-up on every individual track. The complete session remains the focus, from “I’ve Got The World On A String” to “When Your Lover Has Gone”. Nominated in the jazz vocal category at the 1979 Grammys, the record documents an important part of Vaughan’s later career.
The Pablo series 180-gram LP
Analogue Productions issues this version as AAPJ 163, a single 180-gram LP at 33⅓ RPM. Matthew Lutthans handled mastering and lacquer cutting at The Mastering Lab at Blue Heaven Studios. The label identifies the original analogue tape as its source. Pressing is by Quality Record Pressings, with a Stoughton Printing tip-on gatefold jacket.
The ten original tracks retain their sequence. This edition offers a direct route back to the 1978 session: Vaughan at its centre, four distinguished musical partners around her and songs deserving time and attention. The production and recording history provide the setting; the personal encounter begins when the record plays.
You order from Michael 45 in Germany. We arrange the US import and dispatch from Hilden.
More by Sarah Vaughan: Send In The Clowns · “Sarah Vaughan”
Customer question: Buying Analogue Productions records in Europe
Series: Pablo – all 30 records, musicians and the session book
Musicians
Participants and documented credit status. Track references correspond to the tracklist.
- Sarah VaughanvocalsParticipation: Album personnel
- Oscar PetersonpianoParticipation: Track assignments unconfirmed
- Joe PassguitarParticipation: Track assignments unconfirmed
- Ray Browndouble bassParticipation: Track assignments unconfirmed
- Louie BellsondrumsParticipation: Track assignments unconfirmed
Sarah Vaughan (vocals); Oscar Peterson (piano), Joe Pass (guitar), Ray Brown (bass), Louie Bellson (drums). Recorded April 25, 1978 at Group IV Recording Studios, Hollywood. Personnel per the original jacket and session discography for the whole album; which accompanists play on which track is not documented. Producer: Norman Granz. Engineer: Val Valentin. Photos: Phil Stern; design: Norman Granz, Sheldon Marks. This edition: mastered and lacquer cut by Matthew Lutthans (The Mastering Lab at Blue Heaven Studios), pressed at Quality Record Pressings, gatefold jacket by Stoughton Printing.
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