« Ms. Jackson in her full glory » By Blues in Britain

“Whilst the previous volumes have occasionally hinted at her crossover potential, Mahalia Jackson never forsook the church. However, Intégrale Vol. 8  1957-1985 clearly includes material not intended for hard core gospel audience. The recording from Black, Brown And Beige, made with The Duke Ellington Orchestra, now sound overly portentous to modern ears. The three tracks she made for the film St.Louis Blues are gospel but feature jazz singer Pearl Bailey and a very young Billy Preston on one title, and Nat “King” Cole on the remaining two, and they are then followed by material recording at The Newport Jazz Festival (or some titles later re-recorded due to the poor sound quality of the originals).Mahalia’s regular pianist Mildred Falls is on piano, fronting a little trio, and these often very bluesy tracks do capture Ms. Jackson in her full glory. Even so, this CD is most definitely one for long time aficionados of Mahalia Jackson’s music only”
By Norman Darwen— BLUES IN BRITAIN