Vocalists — All Formats  

Great later work from vocalist Eddie Jefferson! Although the title of this one might be read as a haunting premonition of Eddie's untimely early death, the grooves within show nothing of the tragedy that was to overtake him a few years later. Hard swingin' jazz vocal stuff, put together by one of the few true masters of the genre. Eddie vocalizes all over the place on a set of material that runs from bop classics like "Workshop" and "Orinthology", to modern groovers like his great reworking of Herbie Hancock's "Chameleon". Richie Cole's on alto and Mickey Tucker's on keyboards, and the set also includes "Zap! Carnivorous" and "Keep Walkin".

A mad bit of funk and jazz from Ben Sidran – much more tripped-out than his later work! Ben's got a great bunch of musicians on the album – with either Tony Williams or "funky drummer" Clyde Stubblefield on drums, and Phil Upchurch on bass, laying down a nice dark groove on the best cuts – often with an offbeat funky sound that's made the record a favorite for crate-diggers for years. Ben's on piano, grooving in a number of different hipster modes – from LA sleezy to New Orleans soulful – and his vocals, as always, are compelling and catchy. The set includes the nice long groover "Now I Live (And Now My Life Is Done)", a monster track with a great slow groove that's been sampled a number of times over the years – and other cuts include "Full Compass", "Play The Piano", and "Think Twice".

A stunner from the Scott Walker – and possibly the most archly-dramatic, unique and alluring work he'd done up to this point! Since Scott Walker albums have become once per decade events, a lot more is at stake with each one, and it's nothing short of amazing that he manages to get more and more exciting with each effort. The Drift finds Scott tackling obscure historical drama, his pop-operatic vibrato as chilling as ever – backed up by his long-relied upon backdrop of string arrangements, guitars, drums and keys – along with (way) off-kilter percussion. But the sounds made with those tried-and-true materials are often unprecedented, either from Scott or anyone else on the planet. The voice wails with authority, the backing is often quiet and subtle until the ever-approaching gail swoops in and carries you away. We could probably write a book about this album (and someone undoubtably will) – so we'll leave you to pick it up and experience it for yourself! Tracks include "Cossacks Are", "Clara", "Jesse", "Jolson And Jones", "Cue","Buzzers", "Psoriatic", "The Escape" and "A Lover Loves".

A classic set from this massively underrated singer/songwriter! Paul Williams was definitely at the height of his mainstream popularity by the time of this set – with endless appearances on countless TV shows, not to mention work in The Planet Of The Apes films – yet the record's got a nicely personal feel at times – still that fragile intimacy that's always made Paul's recordings of his music so great! A few cuts definitely show a bit more swagger than before – the growing Williams public persona, although not yet at Paradise Phantom level – but it's the gentler tunes that really stand out best, including Paul's own readings of "Rainy Days & Mondays" and "You & Me Against The World". Other titles include "Born To Fly", "You Know Me", "That's What Friends Are For", "Inspiration", "What Would They Say", and "In The Beginning".

Yes, that's right – THE Paul Williams: the short blonde guy who was a bit of a celebrity in the early 70s, showing up on countless variety and talk shows, and even making an appearance in the later Planet Of The Apes movies. Despite Williams' short stature and strange looks, he was actually a heck of a songwriter – and this brilliant album is a soft rock masterpiece that more than proves that fact, put together with some simple smooth LA arrangements, mostly done in small group format, and occasionally handled by jazz musicians Tom Scott and David Spinozza. A number of songs were co-written with the great Roger Nichols – and the album includes Williams' fantastic versions of the hits "We've Only Just Begun" and "An Old Fashioned Love Song" – plus the tracks "Waking Up Alone", "I Never Had It So Good", "That's Enough For Me", and "When I Was All Alone".