Vocalists — All Formats  

A groovy late 70s outing from the Hi Los – done at the same time that group member Gene Puerling was having a great run for MPS with his group The Singers Unlimited! The style here's a bit like the Hi Los of old, but it's also got some of the smoother, sweeter tones that Puerling developed with the Singers Unlimited – that near-perfect approach to sound, with the vocals wrapped up nicely in pure harmonic bliss! Backings are directed by Rob McConnell, and vocal arrangements are by Puerling – on titles that include "Misty", "Everything Must Change", "I Remember You", "Seems Like Old Times", and "When Sunny Gets Blue".

Moody vocals from the Jankowski Singers – a hip ensemble led by pianist Horst Jankowski, with a floating dreamy sound that's very much in the best MPS easy mode! The tracks on the set are as haunting as the "nightpeople" in the title might imply – harmonic, yet slightly off-kilter – and easy, yet with an undercurrent of 70s slink that makes everything feel a bit stranger than it otherwise might. The title track – "Nightpeople Only" – is a real gem, and worth the price of the record alone – but the rest of the set is pretty wonderful too, with a cool blend of male/female chorus vocals, Jankowski's piano and keyboards, and some sweetly compressed flugelhorn solos from Ack Van Rooyen. Other tracks include "Didn't We", "Let's Make A Day", "With Two Eyes", "Light My Fire", and "Lady Eve". CD also features lots of bonus tracks too – 9 more numbers that include "Heideroslein", "Ach Wie Ist's Moglich Dann", "Dreamflight", "Pink Balloon", "So Wie Heut", "Like A Ruby In The Street", and "Du Du Liegst Mir Im Herzen".

Very cool, very groovy, and one of Ella Fitzgerald's hippest albums of the 60s! The set was recorded in San Francisco in the late 60s, but was issued by MPS in Germany as proof that the label always had an ear for bringing something different out of a mainstream artist. And although live, the album's got a romping, hard grooving style that's filled with plenty of soul – arranged surprisingly by Tommy Flanagan, with a bouncing, bottom-end groove that even gets a bit funky at times! The centerpiece of the album is Ella's funky cover of the title cut – Cream's big hit "Sunshine Of Your Love" – proof that even an old gal can get funky with the right material! Other tracks include "This Girl's In Love With You", "Watch What Happens", "House Is Not A Home", and "Hey Jude".

Sweet English vocals from this overlooked Dutch singer – a jazzy session recorded in the early 70s, but issued here for the very first time! The tracks have a great blend of jazz and groovy – in ways that recall some of the cooler singers on the Scandinavian scene of the time – or maybe work you might find on MPS from a few years before. Cees Schrama adds some great Fender Rhodes and Hammond to the backings – which also include the great Ferdinand Povel on tenor and flute. Titles include a killer funky version of "I Feel The Earth Move" – plus "The Fool On The Hill", "For Every Man There's A Woman", and "Mr Bojangles".

A rare British session from vocalist Mark Murphy – and one of his grooviest albums of the 60s! Mark's working here with great backings from the orchestras of Tubby Hayes, John Dankworth, and Les Reed – all of whom give Murphy some of his hippest grooves to date, very much in the mode of some of his work on the Midnight Mood album cut for MPS during the same overseas 60s stretch. And as with that one, there's a nice selection of tunes that goes way past the usual – and which shows off the widest range of Murphy's groovy vocal talents – titles that include "Ballyhoo", "Iceberg", "Stablemates", "She Loves You", "Come Rain Or Come Shine", "I Left My Heart In San Francisco", "From Time To Time", and "The Best Is Yet To Come".

A beautiful album of jazzy vocal tracks with a definite bossa feel, recorded by the group O Quarteto – a harmony group whose style is very reminiscent of earlier Brazilian ones – like Os Cariocas and The Tamba Trio! The record's a sparkling batch of bossa tracks, produced with an electric groove that's sort of similar to some of the late 70s MPS material – with soaring harmonies, warm keyboards, and a killer mellow jazzy groove – the kind of sound that was probably overlooked at the time, but which really sounds great all these years later! Titles include "Ceu E Mar", "Vo Ceitar E Rolar", "Desafinado", "Moca Flor", "Preciso Aprender A Ser So", and "O Barquinho". Very nice, and one not to pass up!

Sure, it was silly stuff when we were kids – but once De La Soul sampled "Three Is The Magic Number", this record became one of the most prized in our possession! And thanks to that hip hop reintroduction, we've really fallen in love with the music again over the years – partly because the tunes are all so groovy, and partly because we've really come to know the jazz-based work of composer Bob Dorough! At the time of this set, Dorough was coming off some great work in the 60s – his own rare recordings, music for Spanky & Our Gang, and others – all of which seems to inform these math-based tunes written for Saturday morning TV. The tunes are all pretty darn catchy, and often quite jazzy – and instrumentation often features some great electric piano nestled in alongside the vocals. Dorough sings the lion's share of the work for this album – although Grady Tate sings on two numbers, and Blossom Dearie on one more. Titles include the amazing "Three Is A Magic Number" – plus "Lucky Seven Sampson", "Little Twelve Toes", "Ready Or Not Here I Come", "I Got Six", "Naughty Number Nine", "Figure Eight", and "The Four Legged Zoo".

Great work by a great singer – the far under-recorded Irene Kral, a lovely lady who really bridges a number of different camps in the vocal jazz world! At one level, Irene's got the coolness of a Christy or Connor, but at another, she's got a more open, swinging, and soulful style – one that comes off with none of the hoke of Anita O'Day, and which is a perfect balance between class, cool, and easy going honesty. The trio of Junior Mance provides the backings, and titles include "Better Than Anything", "The Meaning Of The Blues", "Passing By", "No More", "Nobody Else But Me", "This Is Always", and "It's A Wonderful World".

Just duets – with Don Thompson on piano and bass, and George Shearing on piano and (surprisingly!) a bit of vocals!

A lesser-known gem from The Sandpipers, and a record that really lives up to the "softly" in the title! There's a slight undercurrent of folk on some of the tunes here – bits of jangly acoustic guitar under the trio's harmony vocals – often with an undercurrent of darkness that's a bit different than some of their other records – as if the guitar is bringing out some earthier elements that really unlock the melancholy that's always been present in The Sandpipers' music. Nick DeCaro arranged two tracks on the set, but most of the backings are by Bob Thompson – and titles include "Softly", "A Reason To Believe", "Love Is Blue", "Back On The Street Again", "Jennifer Juniper", "All My Loving", and a wonderful version of the Paul Williams classic "To Put Up With You".

A surprisingly great album from Eydie Gorme – quite different than you might expect from the cover! Normally, we'd cringe at the idea of a "roaring 20s" set of tunes – but Eydie really does a great job with the material – taking tunes from a few decades before, and reworking them with a more modern, jazz-based approach – done with plenty of help on backings from Don Costa! Gorme's young vocals are great with the material – and the set features some surprisingly nice versions of "I Wanna Be Loved By You", "When The Red Red Robin Comes Bob Bob Bobbin Along", "Button Up Your Overcoat", "Chicago", and "Singin In The Rain" – plus "Let's Do It", "My Buddy", and "My Man".