1 	I Feel The Same		8:24
2 	Performance	1	5:23
3 	Doing Our Thing		3:34
4 	Disposable Society		5:15
5 	Living Alone (We're Gonna Make It)	5:19
6 	Such A Night	3:20
7 	Can't Trust Your Neighbor With Your Baby	3:53
+
8 	Mr. Bojangles	4:04

Esther Phillips - vocal
Jerry Dodgion - alto saxophone
Mike Brecker - tenor saxophone
Pepper Adams - baritone saxophone
Jon Faddis - trumpet, flugelhorn
John Gatchell - trumpet, flugelhorn
Marvin Stamm - trumpet, flugelhorn
Urbie Green - trombone
Hubert Laws - flute
Bob James - electric piano (4), piano (5)
Richard Tee - piano (3, 7), organ (5), tack piano (6)
Richard Wyands - piano
Charlie Brown - guitar
Richie Resnicoff - guitar (4, 5)
Jon Sholle - guitar (1, 7)
Eric Weissberg - steel guitar (2)
Gary King - bass
Gordon Edwards - bass (3)
Bernard Purdie  drums
Steve Gadd: - drums (4, 5)
Ralph McDonald - percussion;
Pee Wee Ellis - chimes
Patti Austin - background vocals (2, 6)
Lani Groves - background vocals (2, 6)
J. Denise Williams - background vocals (2, 6)
Carl Caldwell - Background vocals (3, 5)
Robin Clark - background vocals (3, 5)
Tasha Thomas - background vocals (3, 5)
Max Ellen - violin
Paul Gershman - violin
Emmanuel Green - violin
Charles Libove - violin
Harry Lookofsky - violin
David Nadien - violin
Matthew Raimondi - violin
Manny Vardi - violin, viola
Al Brown - viola
Harold Coletta - viola
Charles McCracken - cello
George Ricci - cello

The decades-long battle with drug addiction, which ultimately led to her untimely demise, contributed to vocalist Esther Phillips' status as a tragic second-tier figure in the larger annals of popular music history, but her music itself was often a triumph of soul-stirring ecstasy. By the time Phillips arrived at CTI's sister label, Kudu Records, her early career hits—made under the name "Little Esther"—were a distant memory. A string of albums for Atlantic Records in the late '60s helped bring her back into the spotlight, but she truly found her home under the auspices of the venerable Creed Taylor.

Her first album on Kudu, From A Whisper To A Scream (1972), contained a semi-autobiographical performance of Gil Scott-Heron's "Home Is Where The Hatred Is," which earned Phillips her second of four Grammy nominations and the respect of her peers, but it also signaled the start of her most prolific period of recording. While at Kudu, the singer recorded eight albums, cementing her reputation as a vocalist par excellence and establishing her as the Kudu queen of blues, soul and R&B.

Any one of Phillips' albums would have been a nice addition to CTI Masterworks' fortieth anniversary feast, but the powers-that-be decided to honor her by reissuing her fourth album on the label—1974's underrated Performance. While the personnel list presents an imposing roster of jazz heavyweights, the jazz influences themselves are suppressed in favor of a soul-heavy sound. Notable solos still find their way into the mix, including tenor saxophonist Michael Brecker's extended run on "Disposable Society" and guitarist Jon Sholle's solo spot on "I Feel The Same," but they're rare. Instead, the music is used as it should: to showcase Phillips' voice.

Phillips knew how to establish herself when placed in a funky musical environment, whether gritty and urban ("Disposable Society") or friendlier and fun ("Doing Our Thing"), but goes beyond this area on tracks like "Performance," an R&B number with a gospel feel that's augmented by some countrified steel guitar from Eric Weissberg, and "Such A Night," which features some tack piano work from Richard Tee.

While the CTI Masterworks reissue campaign is largely a celebration of albums that have always been celebrated, the final wave—along with Performance, including efforts from saxophonist Hank Crawford, and organists Lonnie Smith and Johnny Hammond—is all about admiring the wrongfully overlooked and giving kudos to Kudu. ---Dan Bilawsky, allaboutjazz.com

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01. Release Me 3:19
02. Mojo Hanna 2:30
03. I Really Don't Want To Know 2:02
04. Tomorrow Night 3:31
05. Double Crossin' Blues 2:42
06. Hello Walls 3:25
07. Just Out of Reach 3:08
08. Catch Me, I'm Fallin' 2:38
09. I Can't Help It 3:05
10. I'm in Love 2:22

One of the premiere r&b vocalists of the 1950s through the 1980s, 'Little Esther' Phillips possessed both great talent and even greater demons. When she was an adolescent, her parents divorced, and she was forced to divide her time between her father in Houston and her mother in the Watts area of Los Angeles. Although she was brought up singing in church, she was hesitant to enter a talent contest at a local blues club, but her sister insisted and Esther complied. The young dynamo wowed the club owner, bluesman Johnny Otis, and he immediately signed her to his roster of performers. Esther would record on Otis's record label, and perform in his revue. Otis gave her the moniker 'Little Esther' that would follow her throughout her career.

Esther Phillips' voice had a unique nasal sound that delighted audiences with its distinct phrasing and exacting diction. She scored many r&b hits in the early 1950s, but soon became disillusioned with Johnny Otis, finally walking out when her refused her request for a salary increase. Through the remainder of the decade, Esther recorded for various record companies without success. She returned to Houston to live with her father at this time, and to deal with the greatest challenge in her young life -- her drug dependency. Apparently, the stress of life on the road with hardened blues performers, and her insecurities had led her to indulge in heroin as an escape.

After rebounding from her dark days, Esther worked small nightclubs in the southwest, and was spotted by rising star Kenny Rogers, who loved her sound. He arranged a recording contract for her, and she released a hit country and western album. She dropped the adjective 'Little' from her name then. Soon after she signed with Atlantic records and released a series of records with only modest success. They dropped her in 1967, and her drug dependency deepened.

After a stint in a rehab hospital, Atlantic re-signed Esther, and soon released a live album consider to be among her best. The label attempted to squeeze Esther into a pop singer mold, but she wasn't comfortable in the role, so again they cut her free from her contract. In 1971 jazz maestro Creed Taylor signed her to his Kudu label, and this is where Esther's best work can be found. Soon she was singing in high-profile venues along with big-name talent, and international jazz festivals. In 1975, she scored her biggest hit single since her early days with Johnny Otis with the early disco track 'What A Diff'rence A Day Makes,' a remake of a Dinah Washington standard.

Soon restless, Esther left Kudu records for another label in 1977, but was never able to duplicate her success. Depression and insecurity again hounded her and she again turned to heroin, and this time alcohol. She released a few records on small independent labels with little success or notice. The years of addiction had taken a huge toll on 'Little Esther' Phillips and she succumbed to liver and kidney failure in Los Angeles in August of 1984. ---imdb.com

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Side 1:
01) Use Me
02) I Don't Want To Do Wrong
03) Let's Move And Groove
04) Let Me In Your Life
05) Cherry Red

Side 2:
01) I've Never Found A Man To Love Me Like You Do
02) Alone Again, Naturally
03) Do Right Woman, Do Right Man
04) You And Me Together
05) Georgia Rose

Esther Phillips - Vocals
George Benson - Guitar
Sam Burtis - Trombone
Carl Caldwell  - Vocals
Ron Carter - Bass, Bass Instrument
Carl Carwell - Vocals
Billy Cobham - Drum, Drums
Hank Crawford 	- Sax (Alto)
Cornell Dupree 	- Guitar
John Eckert - Flugelhorn, Trumpet
Gordon Edwards - Bass, Bass Instrument
Eric Gale - Guitar
John Gatchell - Flugelhorn, Trumpet
Lani Groves - Vocals
Ralph MacDonald - Percussion
Maceo Parker - Sax (Tenor)
Cecil Payne - Sax (Baritone)
Bernard "Pretty" Purdie - Drums
Richard Tee - Keyboards, Organ, Piano
Tasha Thomas - Vocals
Richard Wyands - Piano
Richard Wynards - Keyboards

Originally released in 1972, ALONE AGAIN, NATURALLY is a fine album by the eclectic and talented soul star Esther Phillips. Helmed by jazz producer Creed Taylor, and recorded with an all-star cast of fusion, soul, and jazz artists including George Benson, Maceo Parker, Ron Carter, and Billy Cobham, this is the early 1970s Creed Taylor sound adapted to pop and soul music, putting Phillips' impassioned vocals in slick, mellow soul-jazz grooves. ---Charity Stafford, Rovi

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