The Brilliance of Harry Belafonte in 12 Songs

variety.com:

A.D. Amorosi In a rich musical career initially defined by the lilting sounds of calypso, over the course of seven decades, Harry Belafonte — the actor, activist, producer and vocalist who died Tuesday of congestive heart failure at the age of 96 — was so much more.

The brassy showtunes of Broadway, the finesse of folk and blues, and the simmering songs of jazz, R&B and Tin Pan Alley’s standards were this lyric baritone’s playgrounds.Yet there was so much more to Belafonte’s music than his signature hits like “Banana Boat Song (Day-O),” “Come Back Liza,” “Man Smart (Woman Smarter)” and his 1956 blockbuster album, “Calypso.” Here are a handful of Belafonte’s other career bests.“Man Piaba” (1954)While his debut album with RCA, “Mark Twain and Other Folk Favorites,” was filled with live versions of traditional folk songs, it was an original co-written with Jack K.

Rollins – the film and television producer, who first talent managed Belafonte to great success – where the singer made his mark.

Triple timing his lyrics faster than Jay-Z and writing intergalactic lyrics tying him to Albert Einstein, relativity and the Hayden planetarium made Belafonte a smart, funny force to be reckoned with. “Troubles” (1956)Belafonte started off his career in the cocktail lounges of New York City, and on this original composition he moves through an unusual atmospheric brand of honky-tonk, jazzy blues and a saloon-habitue’s tale of woe and worry that would have sounded great on Sinatra’s “Sings for Only the Lonely.” “Noah” (1956)A dramatic recitation turned into a gospel doo-wop paean, Belafonte and author/essayist William Attaway tuned the story of the arc and its animals into a hiccupping, wrath-filled wonder — just listen to the grit in