---
product_id: 37461891
title: "The Voice Of The Big Bands [ORIGINAL RECORDINGS REMASTERED]"
brand: "forrest, helen"
price: "R396"
currency: ZAR
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 8
category: "Music"
url: https://www.desertcart.co.za/products/37461891-the-voice-of-the-big-bands-original-recordings-remastered
store_origin: ZA
region: South Africa
---

# The Voice Of The Big Bands [ORIGINAL RECORDINGS REMASTERED]

**Brand:** forrest, helen
**Price:** R396
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

## Quick Answers

- **What is this?** The Voice Of The Big Bands [ORIGINAL RECORDINGS REMASTERED] by forrest, helen
- **How much does it cost?** R396 with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.co.za](https://www.desertcart.co.za/products/37461891-the-voice-of-the-big-bands-original-recordings-remastered)

## Best For

- forrest, helen enthusiasts

## Why This Product

- Trusted forrest, helen brand quality
- Free international shipping included
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- 15-day hassle-free returns

## Description

Arguably the most underrated singer of the 20th Century. Her impeccable phrasing and unparalleled range and breath control made it so easy to be heard over a 17 piece band. Miss 99 lbs of dynamite (according to Downbeat Magazine) was held in the highest regard as the finest band singer ever by such contemporaries such as Frank Sinatra, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald etc. Listen to her version of &quot;When The Sun Comes Out&quot; with The Benny Goodman Orchestra, albeit one of her lesser known works, it may well be the greatest interplay you&apos;ll ever hear between band and vocalist. If you love the big band music of the 1930s and 1940s and have never heard Helen Forrest, then you are missing a lot.

## Images

![The Voice Of The Big Bands [ORIGINAL RECORDINGS REMASTERED] - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51M1tx6Vx+L.jpg)
![The Voice Of The Big Bands [ORIGINAL RECORDINGS REMASTERED] - Image 2](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51L+UWQi9YL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ If you only own one big band chanteuse, maybe it should be this album?
*by 3***R on June 11, 2015*

I may be old, but I'm not so old that I like this by reflex or by nostalgia. There were many years during which my go-to music was jazz, but that jazz was John Coltrane, Charles Mingus, and Ornette Coleman. Some of my friends have continued listening to jazz, but they like that more challenging stuff less and less. They've tried to persuade me that Artie Shaw and Benny Goodman are the real thing, but I don't believe it, not even after hearing this fabulous record, with Helen Forrest fronting for those two, and for Harry James. But this woman has wonderful interpretive gifts, and you should buy this album to experience them. It certainly doesn't hurt that she receives A-grade big band support, but it's Helen Forrest who carries the show. Is this "white jazz"? If that means anything, then yes. It is, in a word, mid-century pop music. Actually, Helen Forrest and Benny Goodman were Jewish--don't know about Artie Shaw and Harry James. So then maybe it's Jewish Jazz! One of the wonders of our amazing blender culture is that our pop music comes from a mix of so many cultural influences. Tin Pan Alley wasn't 100% Jewish songwriters composing on a blues base, but pretty close (not Johnny Mercer, not Cole Porter). What is rock 'n' roll? Well, it isn't blues--not entirely. It's a blend of blues and English and Scottish folk song, the so-called Child Ballads. Our modern pop music is all these things. How peculiar to hear it as such. Katy Perry really is the blues, plus "minor-key Yiddish song," plus the ballads of England. Or am I just nuts? In any event, all theory aside, this is a first-rate recording, very close to being "the one big-band album to have if you're having only one." I think you'll come back to it again and again. The sound is surprisingly fine. Helen Forrest can sing, as in "she has the sound of greatness in her voice."

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Heavenly Voice
*by O***L on July 25, 2016*

Helen Forrest... WOW what a voice and what a lady.  Nobody in today's music world can come close to her.  I am somewhat new to the Big Band music, and wanted some of the famous singers to add to my collection.  I'm not disappointed.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Excellent disc
*by R***A on September 24, 2013*

Others here had said that the collaborations with Artie Shaw are the best.  Well, I agree that the collaborations with Artie Shaw are very fine.  The song "Comes Love" has been favorite of mine since I first heard the song years ago.  For me, it is witty, catchy, refined and true.  Falling in love is risky business, very hard to know that one is doing it wisely.  That is the message of the song, and as I say, the lyrics and the composition are grand.  The Artie Shaw clarinet sound is off-the-charts wonderful.  What a gifted individual he was.  Helen Forrest's voice is lovely on this song and throughout.  The duets with Dick Haymes, including "It Had to Be You" are individually worth the price of admission.  "I Had the Craziest Dream" is a beautiful song too, and it was one of Helen's trademark songs.  Very special, but the entire disc is a joy.  I was not around in the 1940's, but I am glad that I was introduced to music of that decade by members of the preceding generation.  Those who have suggested that the sound quality of this disc is imperfect must possess more finely developed talents for judging sound than I possess.  The disc is a joy.

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*Product available on Desertcart South Africa*
*Store origin: ZA*
*Last updated: 2026-03-17*