From its booze-soaked title cut, to its haunting selection of lonely ballads like "Midnight Sun" and "Stranger Called The Blues", this is one of the most fantastic vocal jazz albums of all time – and a record that we'd recommend instantly to anyone! June Christy has an incredibly icy tone on the record, filled with sorrow, regret, and loneliness – all of which are amplified even more deeply by Pete Rugolo's eerie, off-kilter arrangements. Titles include "Something Cool", "It Could Happen To You", "Lonely House", "I'm Thrilled", and "The Night We Called It A Day". Fantastic stuff! Stereo re-recording of the full LP – from the late 50s. LP, Vinyl record album

From its booze-soaked title cut, to its haunting selection of lonely ballads like "Midnight Sun" and "Stranger Called The Blues", this is one of the most fantastic vocal jazz albums of all time – and a record that we'd recommend instantly to anyone! June Christy has an incredibly icy tone on the record, filled with sorrow, regret, and loneliness – all of which are amplified even more deeply by Pete Rugolo's eerie, off-kilter arrangements. Titles include "Something Cool", "It Could Happen To You", "Lonely House", "I'm Thrilled", and "The Night We Called It A Day". Fantastic stuff! Original Mono recording – from 1953. LP, Vinyl record album

A great cooker from the glory days of Ernestine Anderson on Concord Records – a time when the singer was rediscovered, and revamped in a bit of a bluesy mode – reaching a wide new audience at the time! Her vocals really shine at this point in her career, as she lets loose with a bit more personality too – as you'll hear on this swinging set of down home numbers, cut with a combo that includes Red Holloway on tenor, Ray Brown on bass, and Gene Harris on piano! Titles include "Someone Else Is Steppin", "Goin To Chicago Blues", "Alone On My Own", "Mercy Mercy Mercy", and "I Love Being Here With You". LP, Vinyl record album

Ella Fitzgerald recorded famously in Berlin for Verve Records at the start of the 60s – but this set's from later on in the decade, and shows just how much Ella had grown as a singer! There's less of the easygoing good vibes of that previous album, and a much more mature, intimate quality at times – mixed with a few of the groovier styles that Fitzgerald was picking up in the second half of the 60s! Throughout it all, backing is just by a trio, but one who rock things with plenty of soul – Jimmy Jones on piano, Bob Cranshaw on bass, and Sam Woodyard on drums – on titles that include "So Danca Samba", "Summertime", "You've Changed", "Misty", "Midnight Sun", "Here's That Rainy Day", "Don't Be That Way", "These Boots Are Made For Walking", and "Oh Lady Be Good". LP, Vinyl record album

Pure wonderfulness from Dave Mackay & Vicky Hamilton – one of the hippest duos ever to record a jazz record! The duo are a bit like Jackie & Roy at their best – in that Dave plays piano (including a bit of Fender Rhodes) and sings duet vocals with Vicky Hamilton in a sweetly swinging way that sounds very very groovy. Yet the overall sound is even groovier than Jackie & Roy – touched with influences from Sunshine Pop and the hipper side of the jazz spectrum – in a style that's extremely inventive, and unlike anything else we can think of! Tunes are mostly originals penned by the pair, and instrumentation on the record includes flute and saxes from Ira Schulman and guitar from Joe Pass – alongside keyboards from Dave, plus bass and drums. There's a beautifully breezy feel to the whole record – really the blueprint for countless 70s jazz vocal efforts to come from others – and titles include "Happying", "If I Ask You", "4 Ira", "See My Rainbow", "Peek A Boo", "Free", "Silent", and "Reach Out". LP, Vinyl record album

Rare Hawaii soul from the end of the 70s – an album that's a great extension of the sunny sound heard previously from Lemuria! Babadu's got a gently grooving glow that's right up there with the Free Soul sound of years back – an approach that's smooth, but not in commercial or chart soul ways – and which instead has an earnest, honest appeal – all the feeling right up front, gliding along with the breezy rhythms in a really great way! The balance is a bit hard to describe accurately, and it's the brainchild of producer/arranger Kirk Thompson – who does a great job with Babadu's vocals, compressing them nicely into the music for a fused-up sound that's mighty nice! Titles include "I Did The Right Thing", "I've Got My Roots", "I Love Music", "All I've Got To Give", and "We're Not To Blame". (Soul, Vocalists) LP, Vinyl record album

A very cool album from the Italian branch of RCA Records – and a set that features a host of artists from other nations who briefly stopped over in Italy, and recorded some of these gems for the label! There's a core energy to the set, which balances contributions from a few key artists, mostly from America – and for jazz fans alone, the set is noteworthy for two tracks that have trumpeter Chet Baker blowing with orchestrations from a young Ennio Morricone – "So Che Ti Perdero" and "Il Mio Domani"! And there's plenty of other great bits too – singer Helen Merrill working with maestro Armando Trovajoli on "Nessuno Al Mondo" and "Estate" – plus Perez Prado on "Guaglione" and "Arrivederci Roma", Antonio Prieto on "Papa" and "Baciami", and even some very cool cuts from young poppers Paul Anka and Neil Sedaka. (Jazz, Vocalists) LP, Vinyl record album

One of the greatest jazz vocal albums of all time – and one of the first true moments of genius from a young Dee Dee Bridgewater! The album's a Japanese only release (proof that they're always hipper to our jazz artists than we are!) – and it features Dee Dee singing material that's quite different than her later R&B-inflected sides from the late 70s – very soaring and spiritual work, delivered in a way that set a whole new standard for jazz at the time! Backing is by a small combo with brothers Ron and Cecil Bridgewater, plus Roland Hanna on acoustic and electric piano, George Mraz on bass, and Motohiko Hino on drums and percussion – but the star of the set is always Dee Dee, who sparkles beautifully on the album's classic versions of "Afro Blue" and "Little B's Poem" – both of which have been redone by many other singers over the years. Other great cuts include "People Make The World Go Round", "Love From The Sun", and "Love Vibrations". LP, Vinyl record album

Titles include "Unforgettable", "Mona Lisa", "Too Young", "Red Sails In The Sunset", "Portrait Of Jennie", and "Answer Me My Love". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the hardest to find Astrud Gilberto records on Verve – and one of the best! Deodato, Don Sebesky, and Pat Williams did the arrangements – and the sound here is a bit different than some of the straighter Gilberto sets of the time – still very bossa-inspired, but also in a style that mixes in some great Sunshine Pop and 60s easy influences too – particularly on the tracks arranged by Williams! Tracks are all quite short, but get a heck of a lot of magic into a tiny space – and the album features some really wonderful songs that break Gilberto's pattern a bit – including versions of the Marcos Valle tracks "Crickets Sing For Anamaria" and "Chup Chup, I Got Away" – plus takes on "Windy", "Sing Me A Rainbow", "Never My Love", and "Where Are They Now?" (Brazil, Vocalists) LP, Vinyl record album

A rare 60s meeting of groovy talents from both sides of the Atlantic – and a record that matches the trumpet of Dizzy Gillespie with the hiply swinging vocals of The Double Six Of Paris! The group were a wonderfully groovy precursor to the Swingle Singers – and sung in a scatting approach to jazz vocals that was very much in the tradition of Lambert, Hendricks, & Ross – but also drew inspiration from the earlier work of Eddie Jefferson, King Pleasure, and others. Their sound is great – much more 60s groovy than some other vocal groups – and pairing them with Dizzy gives this record an added punch that some of their other sessions are missing! Backing is small combo throughout – with either Bud Powell or Kenny Barron on piano, Kenny Clarke on drums, and James Moody on tenor – and with the presence of Diz, most of the material here is of bop orientation – taken at a fast and lively clip! Lalo Schifrin arranged the whole session too – and titles include "One Bass Hit", "Blue N Boogie", "Emanon", "Groovin High", "Ow", "The Champ", "Tin Tin Deo", "Hot House", and "Con Alma". (Jazz, Vocalists) LP, Vinyl record album

A lucky number 13 from Lee Hazlewood – one of the artist's last albums during his legendary LHI run of creativity – and a set that marks a really groovy step forward! The music here has all the wit and sharpness of Lee's better-known late 60s material, but there's also a bit of a groove too – some currents that were brought to the record by Larry Marks, then given a special Hazlewood touch when Lee's vocals were added – all in a way that almost makes for a soulful 70s update to his 60s sound! The set was only issued during Lee's time in Sweden during the early 70s – which makes it one of his rarest records ever – and titles include "You Look Like A Lady", "Tulsa Sunday", "Ten Or 11 Towns Ago", "And I Loved You Then", and "I Move Around". Features the bonus tracks "Drums", "Susie", and "Cold Hard Times (outtake)". 2LP edition features 30 tracks in all – including acoustic demos, unreleased tracks, and more – including the rare tunes "Peppermint Morning", "Miracle On 19th Street", and "I'm Riding". LP, Vinyl record album

There was never anyone like Lee Hazlewood – and this album is a true testament to his genius! He's the kind of guy you think you've got figured out when you first look at him – but the more you listen to his music, the more you want to raise him above all of the other hip singer/songwriters he seems to be like (Gram Parsons, Leonard Cohen, etc). At heart, Lee was a Cowboy – much more so than any of those fake LA "desperadoes" of the Sunset rock years – and this album, recorded as part of the enigmatic film A Cowboy In Sweden, is true testament to Lee's incredible ability to be both totally serious about his image, yet still maintain a sense of wit and distance that makes him incredibly hard to pin down, genre-wise. He's the country singer Scott Walker always wanted to be, and he's got a pop genius that Leonard Cohen painfully tried to reach in his later years. Brilliant! Filled with beautiful titles like "Forget Marie", "Pray Them Bars Away", "Easy & Me", "No Train To Stockholm", and "The Night Before" – one that you won't forget for a long time! This rare deluxe version features a bonus album of unreleased tracks – outtakes, demos, and instrumentals! LP, Vinyl record album

Classic Billie Holiday for Verve – sad, blue-tinged, and recorded with great small combo backing – in a mode that really updates the sound of her initial recordings while still keeping the best elements intact! Players include Oscar Peterson, Alvin Stoller, Barney Kessell, and Ray Brown on the core group – plus bits of added solo work from Flip Phillips on tenor and Charlie Shavers on trumpet. Titles include "Solitude", "Moonglow", "Tenderly", "Everything I Have Is Yours", "East Of The Sun", "You Turned The Tables On Me", and "Easy To Love". LP, Vinyl record album

A damn great little record – a small label indie side, but a set that had an unusually strong influence on vocal jazz in the 60s – really setting a new standard for the generation to come! Marv swings things with a hip, sophisticated style – shaking off some of the excesses of the Billy Eckstine generation, going for the leaner modes of the Frank Minion set – and coming up with some groovy tunes that really sparkle in his hands! Marvin plays piano and celeste, and the set also features organ from Charles Kynard and Groove Holmes, flute and tenor from Buddy Collette and Clifford Scott, trumpet from Carmell Jones, and guitar from Hank Crawford – about as hip a backing group as you could hope to pull from the LA scene! The set includes the killer "Big City" – penned and sung by Jenkins, but covered by plenty of others – plus "Chicago", "Small Town", "City Blues", "Visit Me Today", and "I'm Always Drunk In San Francisco". LP, Vinyl record album

Fantastic stuff – and a key example of the penetration of psychoanalysis in the US during the postwar years! The tunes here are all vocal parodies of familiar themes from Freud – sung by Katie Lee in a way that's a bit jazz, but possibly a bit folksy too – very playful at times, with the dry wit that you'd get in some of Tom Lehrer's famous records of the same period. Instrumentation is arranged by Bob Thompson, who really emphasizes the whimsy in the tunes – and titles include "The Will To Fail", "Repressed Hostility Blues", "Gunslinger", "Properly Loved", "Real Sick Sounds", "Shrinker Man", and "Schizophrenic Moon". LP, Vinyl record album

Bossa with a great American twist! Nancy Ames was an American pop singer of the 60s – one who did mostly folksy tunes with a light California feel, and who here is coming up with some great bossa nova numbers, set to arrangements by Stu Phillips! The package has all the sunniness of a summer LA afternoon at the beach – with the driving groove of a pop bossa session from Rio. The album's perennial favorite is Nancy's remake of "Mas Que Nada" (done here as "Pow Pow Pow") – but there's loads of other wonderful numbers, and the whole album's great! Titles include "Laia La Daia", "Love's Like Wine", "So Nice", and "A Man & A Woman". As the song says – Pow Pow Pow! Her greatest LP by a mile, too! LP, Vinyl record album

An unforgettable album from Natalie Cole – a record that came at a time when her R&B career was faltering slightly, and a set that not only helped Natalie reach a new level of sophistication in her music – but also find a huge new audience too! If the title sounds familiar, it's because it's the name of a huge hit for Natalie's dad, the great Nat King Cole – who makes a surprising appearance here via the magic of technology, as he duets with his daughter on the album's hit title track. There's a jazzy vibe to the whole set – thanks in part to some piano work by Ike Cole too – and titles include "The Very Thought Of You", "Paper Moon", "Mona Lisa", 'This Can't Be Love", "Lush Life", "That Sunday That Summer", "Avalon", "Don't Get Around Much Anymore", "Nature Boy", "Darling Je Vous Aime Beaucoup", "Thou Swell", and "Unforgettable". (Soul, Vocalists) LP, Vinyl record album

A lovely side by Chris Connor for Atlantic, recorded not too long after her stint at Bethlehem – where she'd perfected an icy cool style of singing that's still to be matched to this day! The album features larger arrangements by Richard Wess – but still has a light jazzy feel, intimate in approach, despite the larger musical backings. Chris' voice is at once personal and removed – a razor's edge of emotion, repressing some impulses, and opening up surprisingly at other moments. Titles include "Skyscraper Blues", "The Lady Sings The Blues", "Come Rain Or Come Shine", "When Sunny Gets Blue", "Just In Time", "Baltimore Oriole", and "How Little We Know". LP, Vinyl record album

A wonderful vocal set – with jazzy backings by Bill Holman! Titles include "Impossible", "Hooray For Love", "Shake Down The Stars", "I've Got The Sun In The Morning", and "They All Laughed". LP, Vinyl record album