What a Diff'rence a Day Makes! and similar items

Dinah Washington had already enjoyed a career as a jazz and R B singer when her 1959 recording of "What a Diff'rence a Day Makes" catapulted her to a new kind of popularity. Henceforth she would devote herself to singing ballads with orchestral backing. Though purists might object, the very gifts that distinguished her R B singing remain in the later pop phase. Hers is one of the great sounds, a voice at once strong and breathy, with a focus that turns every note and every word into a richly nuanced event, uniquely shaped and loaded with meaning. --Stuart Broomer