Vocalists — All Formats  

Patti Page at her grown up best – sounding wonderful on this 50s album that shows that she was way more than just a pop singer – and instead a rich-toned vocalist capable of surprisingly great delivery! The backings have a slightly modern edge – not June Christy at Capitol, but maybe not that far off either – and although there's a fair bit of strings at times, they often have these tones that set off just the right sort of darkness for the tunes – and bring inflections to the music that we don't always hear with Patti. Yet the Page punctuation is still also nicely in place, especially on the few swingers – and titles include "We Just Couldn't Say Goodbye", "Indiscretion", "Autumn Leaves", "Everything Happens To Me", "I'll Walk Alone", and "You Call Everybody Darling".

A travel-themed set from Patti Page – and a pretty darn great one at that! Patti nicely shakes off some of cliches here – working with full, jazzy backings, and often hitting sounds that are a bit more mature than on her familiar pop numbers – modes that nicely match the global scenes and locales featured in most of the tunes. And while the gimmick is a relatively common one for 50s vocal dates, the mix of worldly tunes really does wonders with Patti – making the set a real standout in her Mercury catalog. Titles include "Mississippi Mud", "South Of The Border", "Aautumn In Rome", "Just A Little Bit South Of North Carolina", "Basin Street Blues", "Let's Get Away From It All", and "Under Paris Skies".

Patti Page is working here to class up her image from the country waltz sound of her biggest hit – and is going instead for a waltzing mode that's more traditional, and which brings out the duskier side of her vocal talents! Don't get us wrong, there's not a lot of Strauss in the mix – it's just that the arrangements of tunes all have a lightly dancing, gently waltzing quality – one that still preserves the syncopated rhythms of Patti's bigger singles, yet which takes them out of the country pop side of the spectrum, and showcase Page as a singer with a deeper range. Backings are by Vic Schoen, and titles include "What'll I Do", "Memories", "Till We Meet Again", "Remember", "Now Is The Hour", "Wondering", and "You Will Find Your Love In Paris".

One of the only albums ever cut by Maxi Anderson – a hell of a soul singer who's lent her talents to a number of sessions over the years, but who sounds especially great here in the lead! Anderson's got a vibe that's almost like Minnie Riperton at the time – a warmly glowing approach to soul that's sophisticated, yet sweet and personal too – set up nicely here with some great Cali arrangements from Gene Page, who slides in an undercurrent of funky soul at the bottom – especially on some of the album's great Skip Scarborough cuts. Titles include "Dancin To Keep From Cryin", "Glory Glory", "Delta Road", "Lover To Lover", "Let Him In", "By Your Side", "Walk Softly", "The Perfect Day", and "Music On My Mind".

Although we've been fans of Andy Bey for years (ever since his early 60s recordings with Andy & The Bey Sisters), we've got to admit that we're stunned at how successful his recent revival has been! This CD is probably the main reason for Andy's success – as it's a compelling batch of jazz vocal tracks that show Andy reinventing himself for a whole new generation of jazz listeners. The backing's by a nice small group that includes Gary Bartz, with whom Andy recorded extensively in the 70s – and the album includes a haunting reworking of Nick Drake's amazing song "River Man", plus a version of Dori Caymmi's "Like A Lover", Monk's "Straight No Chaser", and the moody "Dark Shadows", which was a page from Earl Coleman's songbook.

A massive box set of Scott Walker at his most essential – Scott 1, Scott 2, Scott 3, Scott 4 and 'Til The Band Comes In – and it includes a lavish, full-sized and full color 40+ page booklet! This is the place to start with Scott Walker – his initial years as a solo artist – and light years ahead of The Walker Brothers pleasing, but much more straightforward pop style. This is where his work becomes more grandly-orchestrated, sophisticed and and fully realized, The first four numbered albums are each more ambitious than the last – and the compararably overlooked 'Til The Band Comes In is a gem, too. All 5 albums from 1967-1970 – on a 180 gram vinyl!

A pair of great Nancy Wilson albums from the mid 70s in a single set! All In Love Is Far is a sophisticated album of soul tracks arranged and produced by Gene Page, in a string-heavy, slightly-funky style that reminds us of Gene's work with Barry White at the time. The tracks are all pretty hip – and include titles written by Stevie Wonder, Johnny Guitar Watson, Thom Bell & Linda Creed, Billy Page, and Tennyson Stevens. No standout singles, but plenty of nice moments, and a good side of Nancy's career that isn't always given that much exposure. Titles include "Tell The Truth", "Try It, You'll Like It", "All In Love Is Fair", "There'll Always Be Forever", and "You're As Right As Rain". Come Get To This is a real sweet soul gem from '75. It also has arrangements and production by Gene and Billy Page – who give the record a great smooth 70s soul finish, and a feel that's a lot more unified than some of her other efforts from the decade. Nancy sings some great versions of "If I Ever Lose This Heaven" and "Come Get To This", plus the original tracks "Houdini Of The Midnight Hour", "Like A Circle Never Stops", "Boogeyin All The Way", and "Happy Tears".

A real sweet soul gem from Nancy! The record has her working with arrangements and production by Gene and Billy Page – who give the record a great smooth 70s soul finish, and a feel that's a lot more unified than some of her other efforts from the decade. Nancy sings some great versions of "If I Ever Lose This Heaven" and "Come Get To This", plus the original tracks "Houdini Of The Midnight Hour", "Like A Circle Never Stops", "Boogeyin All The Way", and "Happy Tears".

A sweet Mercury Records package for radio DJs – with music by Jon Thomas, Rolf Ericson, Cannonball Adderley, Patti Page, Manny Albam, Sarah Vaughan, Pearl Bailey, and others.

Some of the most important recordings in the career of Sarah Vaughan – rich package of albums that really helped her refine her style strongly, and unlock an approach to jazz that nobody else could touch! Vaughan had always been a great singer, no matter what the setting – but here, she takes things a strong step forward – by mixing instrumental inspiration with careful lyrical delivery, all at a level that's quite different than Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, or any other contemporaries! Vaughan's got this mature approach that's never overdone, and never tries to call too much attention to itself – even though Sarah's singing in ways that are technically mindblowing, and set to the kinds of backings that never would have been so subtle a few years before. The beautiful package is a 7" square book – with heavy hardcovers, and lots of color images on the many pages inside – plus four CDs nestled alongside the words – containing the full albums Images, In The Land Of Hi Fi, Sarah Vaughan, At Mister Kelly's, After Hours At The London House, and No Count Sarah – plus 11 bonus tracks added to the Mister Kelly's album, and 5 more bonus tracks from the Swingin Easy record as well. 72 tracks in all – in a really lovely package!

The sun shines brightly on Mario Biondi – really making this record sparkle with a charm that goes way beyond Mario's previous albums – a quality that's less retro than before, and which shows Biondi as a growing soul star with really universal appeal! There's still some of the old school jazz in the mix that we love from Mario's Schema work – but the album's also got a fuller production style at times, one that really expands the palette of Biondi's colors, and which has him working here with help from key guests who include Omar, Leon Ware, Al Jarreau, Incognito, and Chaka Khan – and even a bit of organ from the James Taylor Quartet! Jean-Paul "Bluey" Maunick helped co-write a good number of tracks on the set – and titles include "Shine On", "Come To Me", "Woman Woman", "What Have You Done To Me", "Never Stop", "La Voglia La Pazzia L'Idea", "Girl Blue", "Light To The World", and "Catch The Sunrise". CD has a great package – hardcover book-style, with pages inside!