A lush romantic reading of Les Baxter's extended suite "La Femme", a bunch of Frenchy sounding compositions designed to fit nicely with Capitol's "Capitol Of the World" series. Pourcel conducts the work in a rich European style, with the usual overblown number of musicians in the orchestra, and a heavy heavy sound that leaves not a second of silence in the entire work. Titles include "Les Cuisses", "La Nuque", "Les Bras", "Les Yeux", and "Les Doigts". LP, Vinyl record album

A fantastic soundtrack that's maybe even more legendary than the unusual animated film for which it was created – a funky French classic that stands strong in the best tradition of work by Serge Gainsbourg, Jean-Claude Vannier, and Michel Colombier! No surprise, Alain Goraguer is part of the same generation, and did some great early jazzy backings for Serge – but here, his style is much funkier, with lots of sweet keyboard lines, wah wah guitar, and soaring larger orchestrations that really put the whole thing together – clearly one of Alain's best musical moments – and filled with great tunes that include "Le Bracelet", "Deshominisation", "Mort De Draag", "La Femme", "Mira Et Ten", and "Ten Et Medor". (Soundtracks, Now Sound) LP, Vinyl record album

A wonderful bit of hipster tracks from the early 60s! Mel Henke was part Esquivel, part Pete Rugolo, part Ken Nordine, part Kenyon Hopkins – and one of the best, and most underrated of the late 50s/early 60s bachelor pad arrangers! This album's most likely his best – and it's a mad mix of tracks with a slinky jazzy sound. Some have strange narration, others have strange instrumentation, and nearly all of them have a wild cartoony sound that's just great. Listen for strange vocals from Beverly Ford, electric violin by Elliott Fisher, and lots of percussion by Larry Bunker and Milt Holland. Titles include "The Lively Ones", "Let's Put Out The Lights", "Famer John", "All That Meat", and "Woman In Space". LP, Vinyl record album

Trumpety magic from Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass – a record that's known not only for its classic cover of a model dipped in whipped cream, but also for it's tremendously groovy groove! The Tijuana sound is very firmly in place by the time of this set – Mexican-inspired, but compressed down into a sweet little LA groove in that magical A&M way – never too over the top, done in a way that takes a previously-hokey brassy sound, and smoothes it out for the Now Sound generation! Titles include the hit single "Whipped Cream", plus "Taste Of Honey", "Green Peppers", "Bittersweet Samba", "Lemon Tree", "Ladyfingers", and "Butterball". LP, Vinyl record album

The frenzied piano of Carmen Cavallaro gets a nice does of Latin rhythms on this set – and the set's a great example of the way that cocktail piano and Latin were strongly linked in the New York scene of the 50s! Carmen's style here is certainly different than that of Joe Loco, Noro Morales, or others who skirted the same territory – but the difference is also not that great, and it was Cavallaro's earlier sense of drama and color that often helped inspire piano work in players who followed. The rhythms are especially great here too – not straight Latin all the time, but a nice mix of inventive and exotic touches from bass and percussion that really liven things up, and make the tunes come across with modes that are quite different than their familiar readings. Titles include "Dolores My Own", "Frenesi", "Andalucia", "Maria La-O", "Perfida", "Adios", and "Poinciana". LP, Vinyl record album

One of our favorite records of all time! We've got to admit, this one's an acquired taste, but if you dig cool LA studio pop from the early 70's, this record's a real treasure! Nick DeCaro was probably best known to the world as an instrumental arranger for A&M (he did a lot of the Claudine Longet albums), but this record from the early 70's has him singing in a set of cool spacey tracks that mix studio pop and jazz for a sound that's unlike anything else we've ever heard before. Nick's backed by a tight group that includes LA jazz players like Arthur Adams, Wilton Felder, Paul Humphrey, Harvey Mason, and David T. Walker – and the sound is very compressed, very laidback, and very very hip. Tracks include "Under The Jamaican Moon", "Wailing Wall", and great versions of "Getting Mighty Crowded" and Stevie Wonder's "Angie Girl". Remember, it's an acquired taste, but if you like stuff like middle period Steely Dan or Maria Muldaur, you'll really dig this one! LP, Vinyl record album

Movie Themes For Lovers Only is a great one – a set that takes some of the best film themes of the early 60s, and turns them into great vehicles for that mellow Gleason sound – that warm mix of orchestrations and some very light jazz touches – heard here on solos from Charlie Ventura on trumpet and Pee Wee Erwin on tenor. That Gleason touch is impeccable, as always – and titles include "My Romance", "La Dolce Vita", "Days Of Wine & Roses", "The Man That Got Away", and "Lawrence Of Arabia". LP, Vinyl record album

An incredibly groovy album from Jackie Gleason from the mid 60 – with a sound that's a lot hipper than you'd expect from the "brass" in the title! Jackie's working here with an electric bass at the bottom of the band – providing a nice bouncing rhythm that makes the tunes dance nicely, stepping out in a 60s easy mode that has a lilt at the bottom that makes for a lot more play at the top. 11 tracks in all – with titles that include "The Art Of Love", "My Love For Carmen", "A Taste Of Honey", "Mame", "La Terre", "Call Me", "Love Is Here to Stay", "It All Depends On You" and a great version of Galt MacDermot's "African Waltz"! LP, Vinyl record album

A short detour in the 60s career of Chet Baker – one that we sure like a heck of a lot! This side is one of a couple that were recorded as an answer to the big success of Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass – with Chet's trumpet was backed by jaunty, brassy arrangements penned by Jack Nitzsche, and George Tipton. And while it might be easy to dismiss the tunes as copycat sound-a-likes, they're really not – as Nitszche brings in a much fuller groove to most of the numbers than Herb Alpert ever did – more of a sunny LA pop feel that has the whole group really gliding along on bold waves of sound all topped off by Baker's horn – sounding stronger and more confident here than on many of his other recordings of the 60s! Some numbers have a Latin undercurrent while others lean towards mainstream pop – a style that's bolder than A&M's approach to Tijuana – and one that explodes with some youthful LA energies! 12 tracks in all, including "Happiness Is", "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)", "The Phoenix Love Theme (Senza Fine)", "On The Street Where You Live", 'Armen's Theme", "You Baby" and "It's Too Late". LP, Vinyl record album

A strange 60s chapter in the career of trumpeter Chet Baker – but one that we sure like a heck of a lot! These sides were recorded as an answer to the big success of Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass over at A&M Records – and for the sessions, Chet's trumpet was backed by jaunty, brassy arrangements penned by Jack Nitzsche. And while it might be easy to dismiss the tunes as copycat sound-a-likes, they're really not – as Nitszche brings in a much fuller groove to most of the numbers than Herb Alpert ever did – more of a sunny LA pop feel that has the whole group really gliding along on bold waves of sound all topped off by Baker's horn – sounding stronger and more confident here than on most of his other recordings of the 60s! There's a definite Latin undercurrent to most of the numbers, but also a fair bit of mainstream pop instrumentation as well – a style that's bolder and not nearly as compressed as the A&M approach to Tijuana – and one that explodes with some youthful LA energies! 10 numbers in all, including "Flowers On The Wall", "Mexico", "Hot Toddy", "El Paso", "Come A Little Bit Closer", "Speedy Gonzales", "Cuando Calienta El Sol", and "24 Hours To Tulsa". LP, Vinyl record album

A dream of a record from Gary McFarland – lightly jazzy instrumentals with a warm bossa nova undercurrent! The style is incredible – a sweet blend of vibes, guitar, and even some light whistling – often also featuring wordless jazz vocals – scatting along with the groove in a melodic and lovely kind of way! The whole thing's incredibly charming, and even familiar tunes come across sounding quite different in McFarlands hands. Titles include "From Russia With Love", "More", "Emily", "La Vie En Rose", "The Love Goddess", and even a groovy take on "I Want To Hold Your Hand". For you true swingers, the cover includes directions for mixing a "Soft Samba Cocktail" (courtesy Spanish Sherry Institute)! (Jazz, Now Sound) LP, Vinyl record album

Drums galore from the great Sandy Nelson – an artist who was one of the most hard-burning talents on the kit, back in the day – with a propulsive quality that makes a record like this take off right from the very first note! As with so many of Sandy's instrumental classics from back in the day, there's no record of the players on the date – but they've got to be some of LA's top-level studio talents, as there's some excellent saxophone solos on the set – and some especially great guitar! At a time when guitar-heavy instrumental rock albums were king, Sandy managed to bring the drums center stage – while still also holding onto the kinds of sounds you'd love from those groups too – all arranged by Rene Hall with a mighty sharp groove. Titles include "Drums A Go Go", "Whittier Blvd", "Do The Boomerang", "Soul Drums", "The Clapping Song", "Boot Leg", and "Casbah". (Rock, Now Sound) LP, Vinyl record album