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A pair of surprisingly sweet albums from the Elgart brothers – back to back on a single CD! Girl Watchers is maybe the grooviest album ever from the team of Les & Larry Elgart – as you can probably guess from the title! The set's awash in groovy tunes from the late 60s – not just the fab title cut, but a host of other sweet numbers that are given an inventive new take on the Elgart horn style! The style is pretty great – kind of a 60s update of older big band modes – lean at points, full at others – and given some sweet Bobby Scott arrangements on some of the album's best tracks. Titles include "Music To Watch Girls By", "That's Life", "The Spy With A Cold Nose", "Girl Watchers", and "Girl Talk". Wonderful World Of Today's Hits is way more than you'd guess from the title – as the arrangements are by Bobby Scott, and have this sweet mix of jazz and 60s mod – often worked in ways that really reboot familiar numbers of the time – with that soulful undercurrent that makes Bobby's own music so great. Teo Macero produced, and really knows how to bring out the best shimmering sounds in the horns – and titles include "The Bobo", "Torino", "When I Look In Your Eyes", "Spanish Eyes", "To Sir With Love", and a wild take on "Ode To Billie Joe", with some surprisingly fuzzy guitar!

Beautiful early work from vocalist Carol Sloane – material recorded with a very groovy guitar-based group, in the years before her better-known sides on Columbia Records! The style here is quite intimate – as Sloane's mostly singing in a small combo with guitar from either Chuck Wayne or Bucky Pizzarelli, both players with an open-toned sort of sound that really helps color in the vocals nicely. Marky Markowitz plays a bit of trumpet, but usually in a laidback way – and as on the album Hush-A-Bye, these sides were originally recorded by Larry Elgart, but never issued at the time! The material's making a first appearance here on the CD, augmented with one track that features Elgart's full orchestra – and titles include "Bewitched", "I've Got The World On A String", "Honeysuckle Rose", "Mood Indigo", "Walkin", "You Stepped Out Of A Dream", "Danny Boy", and "What's New".