StLJN Audio Archive: Pow! Jeanne Trevor Sings!!

For this week's Audio Archive post, we reach back to 1965 for the first full-length recording by one of St. Louis' longtime favorites, singer Jeanne Trevor. Pow! Jeanne Trevor Sings!! originally was released on the Mainstream label and is revived here courtesy of the music-sharing blog Soundological Investimigations.

Drawing inspiration from the classic tradition of female jazz vocalists, most notably Ella Fizgerald, Trevor has been a staple on St. Louis stages for close to 50 years, and continues to perform today. In fact, she's on the bill for next Saturday's inaugural U City Jazz Festival.

For those interested in St. Louis' Gaslight Square era, this album is a must-hear, for it brings together three well-known acts from that time period on one recording. In addition to Trevor on vocals, Pow! also features the Quartette Trés Bien - Jeter Thompson (piano), Richard Simmons (bass), Albert St. James (drums), and Percy James (percussion), who are uncredited on the sleeve for contractual reasons - plus the ever-versatile Hugh "Peanuts" Whalum on tenor sax.

The album includes 12 tracks: "People Will Say We're In Love," "Don't Blame Me," "Get Out Of My Life," "I've Got You Under My Skin," "Four," "Lady With A Painted Smile," "Moonlight Serenade," "The Last Moment," "I Know That You Know," "From An Ancient Proverb," "The Lady's In Love With You," and "Visit Me."

Pow! Jeanne Trevor Sings!! never has been issued on CD, and vinyl copies recently have sold for $50 or more on various online auction sites. You can download it for free by going here and scrolling down to the first comment. You'll see three links, representing the file storage sites Sharebee, Multiupload, and Flameupload. Choose one, click on it, and follow the instructions.

The StLJN Audio Archive links only to recordings that are out-of-print or that never have been commercially available. The purpose of the Audio Archive is encourage discussion, appreciation and knowledge of St. Louis jazz artists, and we encourage you to support them (or their estates) by purchasing authorized recordings and merchandise or, whenever possible, attending live performances.

(Edited 9/22/11 to fix a typo.)