Artist: Various Artists
Album: George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess
Genre: Jazz
Release Date: 1956/2013
Audio Format:: FLAC (tracks) 24 bit, 96 kHz
Duration: 01:46:52
Total Tracks: 67
Total Size: 1,15 GB

Tracklist:

1. Mel Tormé, Frances Faye, Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra, The Bethlehem Orchestra, Russ Garcia – Act I: Introduction – Summertime (Porgy, Bess) (01:29)
2. Mel Tormé, Frances Faye, Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra, The Bethlehem Orchestra, Russ Garcia – Act I: Narration 1 (Porgy, Bess) (01:24)
3. Mel Tormé, Frances Faye, Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra, The Bethlehem Orchestra, Russ Garcia – Act I: Summertime (Clara) (03:48)
4. Mel Tormé, Frances Faye, Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra, The Bethlehem Orchestra, Russ Garcia – Act I: Narration 2 (Porgy, Bess) (00:12)
5. Mel Tormé, Frances Faye, Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra, The Bethlehem Orchestra, Russ Garcia – Act I: A woman is a sometime thing (Jake) (02:40)
6. Mel Tormé, Frances Faye, Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra, The Bethlehem Orchestra, Russ Garcia – Act I: Narration 3 (Porgy, Bess) – Here comes de honey man (Peter) (01:20)
7. Mel Tormé, Frances Faye, Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra, The Bethlehem Orchestra, Russ Garcia – Act I: Narration 4 (Porgy, Bess) (00:24)
8. Mel Tormé, Frances Faye, Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra, The Bethlehem Orchestra, Russ Garcia – Act I: Evenin’ ladies, hello boys (Porgy) (00:43)
9. Mel Tormé, Frances Faye, Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra, The Bethlehem Orchestra, Russ Garcia – Act I: Narration 5 (Porgy, Bess) (00:11)
10. Mel Tormé, Frances Faye, Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra, The Bethlehem Orchestra, Russ Garcia – Act I: No, no, brother, Porgy ain’t soft on no woman (Porgy) (01:32)
11. Mel Tormé, Frances Faye, Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra, The Bethlehem Orchestra, Russ Garcia – Act I: Narration 6 (Porgy, Bess) (Scene: Crap game and murder) (04:36)
12. Mel Tormé, Frances Faye, Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra, The Bethlehem Orchestra, Russ Garcia – Act I: Narration 7 (Porgy, Bess) (00:47)
13. Mel Tormé, Frances Faye, Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra, The Bethlehem Orchestra, Russ Garcia – Act I: Gone, gone, gone (02:25)
14. Mel Tormé, Frances Faye, Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra, The Bethlehem Orchestra, Russ Garcia – Act I: Overflow, overflow (Porgy) (02:09)
15. Mel Tormé, Frances Faye, Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra, The Bethlehem Orchestra, Russ Garcia – Act I: Narration 8 (Porgy, Bess) (00:28)
16. Mel Tormé, Frances Faye, Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra, The Bethlehem Orchestra, Russ Garcia – Act I: I can’t puzzle this thing out (Porgy) (01:18)
17. Mel Tormé, Frances Faye, Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra, The Bethlehem Orchestra, Russ Garcia – Act I: Narration 9 (Porgy, Bess) (00:11)
18. Mel Tormé, Frances Faye, Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra, The Bethlehem Orchestra, Russ Garcia – Act I: My man’s gone now (Serena) (03:50)
19. Mel Tormé, Frances Faye, Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra, The Bethlehem Orchestra, Russ Garcia – Act I: Narration 10 (Porgy, Bess) (00:35)
20. Mel Tormé, Frances Faye, Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra, The Bethlehem Orchestra, Russ Garcia – Act I: Oh, the train is at the station (Bess) (02:47)
21. Mel Tormé, Frances Faye, Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra, The Bethlehem Orchestra, Russ Garcia – Act I: Narration 11 (Porgy, Bess) (00:38)
22. Mel Tormé, Frances Faye, Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra, The Bethlehem Orchestra, Russ Garcia – Act I: Oh I’m agoin’ out to the Blackfish banks (Jake) (02:17)
23. Mel Tormé, Frances Faye, Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra, The Bethlehem Orchestra, Russ Garcia – Act I: Narration 12 (Porgy, Bess) (00:34)
24. Mel Tormé, Frances Faye, Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra, The Bethlehem Orchestra, Russ Garcia – Act I: Oh, I got plenty of nuttin’ (Quartet) (03:14)
25. Mel Tormé, Frances Faye, Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra, The Bethlehem Orchestra, Russ Garcia – Act I: Mornin’, Lawyer, lookin’ for somebody? (Sportin’ Life) (04:12)
26. Mel Tormé, Frances Faye, Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra, The Bethlehem Orchestra, Russ Garcia – Act II: Buzzard keep on flyin’ over (Porgy) (02:42)
27. Mel Tormé, Frances Faye, Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra, The Bethlehem Orchestra, Russ Garcia – Act II: Narration 13 (Porgy, Bess) (00:28)
28. Mel Tormé, Frances Faye, Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra, The Bethlehem Orchestra, Russ Garcia – Act II: Bess, you is my woman now (Bess) (04:57)
29. Mel Tormé, Frances Faye, Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra, The Bethlehem Orchestra, Russ Garcia – Act II: Oh, I can’t sit down (Bess, Porgy) (01:46)
30. Mel Tormé, Frances Faye, Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra, The Bethlehem Orchestra, Russ Garcia – Act II: Porgy, I hates to go (Bess) (01:10)
31. Mel Tormé, Frances Faye, Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra, The Bethlehem Orchestra, Russ Garcia – Act II: Oh, I got plenty o’ nuttin’ (Jake, Clara, Porgy, Serena) (reprise) (00:37)
32. Mel Tormé, Frances Faye, Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra, The Bethlehem Orchestra, Russ Garcia – Act II: It Ain’t Necessarily So (01:52)
33. Mel Tormé, Frances Faye, Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra, The Bethlehem Orchestra, Russ Garcia – Act II: Narration 14 (Porgy, Bess) (00:35)
34. Mel Tormé, Frances Faye, Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra, The Bethlehem Orchestra, Russ Garcia – Act II: It ain’t necessarily so (Sportin’ Life) (04:27)
35. Mel Tormé, Frances Faye, Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra, The Bethlehem Orchestra, Russ Garcia – Act II: Narration 15 (Porgy, Bess) (00:53)
36. Mel Tormé, Frances Faye, Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra, The Bethlehem Orchestra, Russ Garcia – Act II: What You Want Wid’ Bess (Crown) (02:12)
37. Mel Tormé, Frances Faye, Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra, The Bethlehem Orchestra, Russ Garcia – Act II: Narration 16 (Porgy, Bess) (00:33)
38. Mel Tormé, Frances Faye, Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra, The Bethlehem Orchestra, Russ Garcia – Act II: Oh, I’m agoin’ out to the Blackfish banks (Jake) (reprise) (01:27)
39. Mel Tormé, Frances Faye, Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra, The Bethlehem Orchestra, Russ Garcia – Act II: Narration 17 (Porgy, Bess) (00:30)
40. Mel Tormé, Frances Faye, Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra, The Bethlehem Orchestra, Russ Garcia – Act II: Oh, doctor Jesus (Porgy, Clara, Serena, Sporting Life) (02:01)
41. Mel Tormé, Frances Faye, Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra, The Bethlehem Orchestra, Russ Garcia – Act II: Here come de honey man – Oh dey’s so fresh an’ fine – I’m talkinn about devil’s crab (Strawberry Woman, Crab Man, Porgy) (03:31)
42. Mel Tormé, Frances Faye, Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra, The Bethlehem Orchestra, Russ Garcia – Act II: Narration 18 (Porgy, Bess) (00:38)
43. Mel Tormé, Frances Faye, Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra, The Bethlehem Orchestra, Russ Garcia – Act II: I Loves You, Porgy (Bess) (03:16)
44. Mel Tormé, Frances Faye, Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra, The Bethlehem Orchestra, Russ Garcia – Act II: Narration 19 (Porgy, Bess) (Scene: Storm) (02:29)
45. Mel Tormé, Frances Faye, Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra, The Bethlehem Orchestra, Russ Garcia – Act II: Summertime (Clara) (reprise) (01:22)
46. Mel Tormé, Frances Faye, Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra, The Bethlehem Orchestra, Russ Garcia – Act II: Narration 20 (Porgy, Bess) (00:10)
47. Mel Tormé, Frances Faye, Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra, The Bethlehem Orchestra, Russ Garcia – Act II: Oh, dere’s somebody knockin’ at de do’ (01:04)
48. Mel Tormé, Frances Faye, Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra, The Bethlehem Orchestra, Russ Garcia – Act II: Narration 21 (Porgy, Bess) (01:20)
49. Mel Tormé, Frances Faye, Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra, The Bethlehem Orchestra, Russ Garcia – Act II: If God want to kill me (Crown) (02:05)
50. Mel Tormé, Frances Faye, Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra, The Bethlehem Orchestra, Russ Garcia – Act II: Narration 22 (Porgy, Bess) (00:06)
51. Mel Tormé, Frances Faye, Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra, The Bethlehem Orchestra, Russ Garcia – Act II: A red-headed woman make a choo-choo jump (Crown, Clara, Bess) (01:48)
52. Mel Tormé, Frances Faye, Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra, The Bethlehem Orchestra, Russ Garcia – Act I: Summertime: Act II: Narration 23 (Porgy, Bess) (00:59)
53. Mel Tormé, Frances Faye, Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra, The Bethlehem Orchestra, Russ Garcia – Act II: Oh, Doctor Jesus (Porgy, Clara, Serena, Sporting Life) (reprise) (00:38)
54. Mel Tormé, Frances Faye, Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra, The Bethlehem Orchestra, Russ Garcia – Act III: Narration 24 (Porgy, Bess) (00:56)
55. Mel Tormé, Frances Faye, Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra, The Bethlehem Orchestra, Russ Garcia – Act III: Clara, Clara, don’t you be downhearted (Serena, Bess, Sporting Life) (01:36)
56. Mel Tormé, Frances Faye, Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra, The Bethlehem Orchestra, Russ Garcia – Act III: Narration 25 (Porgy, Bess) (00:09)
57. Mel Tormé, Frances Faye, Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra, The Bethlehem Orchestra, Russ Garcia – Act III: Summertime (Bess, Porgy) (reprise) (01:14)
58. Mel Tormé, Frances Faye, Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra, The Bethlehem Orchestra, Russ Garcia – Act III: Narration 26 (Porgy, Bess) (01:50)
59. Mel Tormé, Frances Faye, Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra, The Bethlehem Orchestra, Russ Garcia – Act III: Oh, Lawd, what I goin’ do? (Porgy, Bess, Sporting Life) (01:21)
60. Mel Tormé, Frances Faye, Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra, The Bethlehem Orchestra, Russ Garcia – Act III: Narration 27 (Porgy, Bess) (00:09)
61. Mel Tormé, Frances Faye, Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra, The Bethlehem Orchestra, Russ Garcia – Act III: There’s a Boat Dat’s Leavin’ Soon for New York (Sporting Life, Bess) (01:29)
62. Mel Tormé, Frances Faye, Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra, The Bethlehem Orchestra, Russ Garcia – Act III: Narration 28 (Porgy, Bess) (01:18)
63. Mel Tormé, Frances Faye, Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra, The Bethlehem Orchestra, Russ Garcia – Act III: Narration 29 (Porgy, Bess) (00:24)
64. Mel Tormé, Frances Faye, Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra, The Bethlehem Orchestra, Russ Garcia – Act III: How are you dis mornin’? (01:41)
65. Mel Tormé, Frances Faye, Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra, The Bethlehem Orchestra, Russ Garcia – Act III: Narration 30 (Porgy, Bess) (00:39)
66. Mel Tormé, Frances Faye, Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra, The Bethlehem Orchestra, Russ Garcia – Act III: Oh, Bess, oh, where is my Bess? (Porgy) (02:19)
67. Mel Tormé, Frances Faye, Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra, The Bethlehem Orchestra, Russ Garcia – Act III: Finale: Oh Lawd, I’m on my way (Porgy) (01:57)

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George Gershwin’s folk opera got this jazz treatment for the very first time in 1956 starring Mel Tormé as Porgy and Frances Faye as Bess. Bethlehem Records put nearly their entire roster of vocalists and musicians in the studio to cut this all-star session. The singers are backed up by the Duke Ellington Orchestra, the Stan Levey Group, the Australian Jazz Quintet (with Herbie Mann on flute) and the Bethlehem Orchestra conducted by Russ Garcia.The Bethlehem label didn’t make it out of the ’50s before folding, and one of the reasons why is the ambitious yet misguided George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, a three-LP box set that represents a complete recording of the Gershwin classic (with narration and sound effects). Bethlehem certainly had the talent to pull it off – appearing on the label, and this production, are Mel Tormé, Duke Ellington & His Orchestra, Johnny Hartman, Bob Dorough, Betty Roche, Frances Faye, and minor period stars including vocalist Frank Rosolino, bandleader Stan Levey, and arranger Russ Garcia. And long-playing versions of theatrical productions were huge in the mid-’50s (a few sold millions of copies). The most popular of these, however, were simply easy-to-digest highlights LPs that never attempted to present the complete production. This version is a gargantuan two hours long, difficult to sit through even if every performance was stellar (and, unfortunately, that’s far from the case). The recording makes a virtue of being hip, primarily through the narration of Al “Jazzbo” Collins, a radio DJ who may have been hip for the times but whose counterfeit excitement and perfect diction make the proceedings sound like a period newsreel. (“Watch out, Porgy, here comes that mean Sportin’ Life!”) Tormé, as the most popular vocalist on the label, was a shoe-in for the role of Porgy, despite Johnny Hartman’s clear superiority, and Frances Faye received the role of Bess despite Betty Roche’s ability to handle the role much better. Those mistakes are compounded by Russ Garcia’s period arrangements (the Ellington group makes only one appearance) and some decidedly subpar performances from Frank Rosolino early in the program. Still, it has to be admitted that a highlights compilation of this record would sparkle very brightly, driven by Mel Tormé’s swinging “I’ve Got Plenty o’ Nuttin'” with a super-enthused backing chorus, George Kirby’s “It Ain’t Necessarily So,” and Betty Roche’s reprise of “Summertime” during the second half.