An incredible treasure from a lost vocal jazz genius – the little-known Bobby Cole, every bit as great a singer as he was a songwriter, very unusual for the time! Bobby was probably best remembered as the house pianist at Jillys, but at the time of this 1964 recording, he was poised to emerge as a serious vocalist with a rich talent for penning interesting and witty little tunes. The album's got Bobby singing in a style that's halfway between Matt Dennis and Mark Murphy – with the sophisticated talents of both in place, and perhaps a bit of the wit of Bob Dorough or Roy Kral. The core album is completely brilliant – the kind of off-kilter vocal record we die for – and every track's a fresh original by Bobby! The original album features Bobby on piano and vocals, with only bass and drums behind him – and titles include "You Can't Build A Life On A Look", "Heat", "You Could Hear A Pin Drop", "Change Of Scene", "A Perfect Day", "Elegy For Eve", and "Status Quo". LP, Vinyl record album

If you've ever doubted the real jazz sensibility of Tony Bennett, then this is an album to change your mind – because Tony's working here in a marvelously unadorned setting – with only the piano of Bill Evans to back him up! The record's a rare gem from years after Bennett was cracking the pop charts, but was willing to pull back to the jazz of his roots – and the session's equally rare for Evans, who rarely worked with vocalists at this point in his career. The simplicity of the album is its strength – and together, the pair really sound tremendous – slightly faltering at times, but in a way that exposes a sense of humanity you might not find in other records, especially those by Bennett. Titles include "When In Rome", "Some Other Time", "The Touch Of Your Lips", "My Foolish Heart", "Waltz For Debby", and "Young & Foolish". LP, Vinyl record album

Fantastic stuff, and a record that was virtually the blueprint for spiritual soul jazz in the 70s! Although Max Roach first rose to fame during the bop years, by the time of this set he'd really stretched out a lot – moving past initial righteous projects in the Civil Rights era, to even more progressive work with a group like this! The players are all youthful geniuses who would go onto shape the sound of 70s jazz tremendously – working here at a point that already shows their brilliance – Gary Bartz on alto, Charles Tolliver on trumpet, Stanley Cowell on piano, and even Andy Bey, who sings vocals on the title track. The overall style is very similar to Bartz's early albums on Milestone, or to some of the Music Inc records on Strata East, which feature Cowell and Tolliver. It's no surprise that Cowell contributed 3 tracks to the set – "Effi", "Equipoise", and "Abstrutions" – and the group also performs a great version of Bartz's "Libra"! (Jazz, Vocalists) LP, Vinyl record album

A rare second meeting between Lee Hazlewood and Nancy Sinatra – recorded for RCA a few years after their initial outing for Reprise, and done with a style that's even moodier than the first! Given that Nancy's less of a star at this point, Lee really dominates the album – and casts Sinatra in a space that's filled with his own dark themes of loneliness, pride, responsibility, and forbidden adult love. Backings are rich and large, but the voices are always upfront in the mix – and arrangers Larry Muhoberac and Clark Gassman really do a great job of getting the Hazlewood vision down perfectly. Most of the tracks are originals, and titles include "Got It Together", "Back On The Road", "Arkansas Coal Suite", "Congratulations", "Paris Summer", "Friendship Train", and "Tippy Toes". Also features two great bonus tracks – "Machine Gun Kelly" and "Think I'm Coming Down". LP, Vinyl record album

The wonderful voice of Marianne Faithfull in all its 60s glory – set up here with sublime arrangements from Mike Leander, in a style that's unlike just about anything else we can think of! Marianne's got a bit of a trill – as you might hear in female folk singers of the decade – but the overall presentation is something completely different altogether – kind of a dark recasting of the usual pop modes you might hear from Leander, with all these blue undertones and weird intonations that kind of point the way towards moodier female singers to come at the end of the 60s – but still with enough ties to the mainstream to make Faithfull's music even more powerful! The balance is hard to describe in words, but hits you right away from the very first note – and titles include "Counting", "Ne Me Quitte Pas", "In The Night Time", "Tomorrow's Calling", "With You In Mind", "I'm The Sky", "Lucky Girl", and "I Have A Love". (Rock, Vocalists) LP, Vinyl record album