Under the direction and orchestration of
Reg Owens,
Della Reese recorded her fifth long-player for the Big Apple-based Jubilee label. Although the artist's background was deeply rooted in the gospel tradition, she was among the incipient female vocalists to have been able to maneuver deftly into the secular genre.
What Do You Know About Love? (1959) contains a dozen torch-type ballads and standards from the Great American Songbook as well as the
Mort Goode/
Walter Scharf-penned title composition, which just so happens to commence the affair. The syrupy-sweet strings swell as they herald
Reese's singular leads. Her sense of rhythmic precision, exacting diction, and even-keeled nature flies in the face of the foreboding and portent that are swathed in what comes off as an acerbic tone. "When I Fall in Love" is a gorgeous reminder of the heartfelt and empathetic side of
Reese that is at times eclipsed if not overwhelmed by her animated nature. She unfurls each line with a passion that never comes to a boil, but rather is left to simmer just below the surface. To a similar degree,
Reese draws the listener into her retelling of "Something I Dreamed Last Night," not to mention the gentle, demure yearning on the
Duke Ellington classic "I Got It Bad." A decidedly strident feel empowers the
Gus Kahn co-written "I'll Never Be the Same," which provides an interesting change from the typical "woe is me"-imbued renditions that many of her contemporaries could pull off so easily. "You Better Go Now" -- one of the least pretentious of
Owens' scores -- gives
Reese a chance to interject a bit more of herself than on the majority of the project. The slightly sassy unveiling of lines such as "...I like ya much too much, you have a way with you" is irresistible.