A beautiful tribute to New York from jazz arranger Ralph Burns – perhaps one of the best of that odd postwar genre – the LP-long salute to the Big Apple! This set's got an unusual approach – great instrumentation from Burns, on a par with his more famous jazz scoring of the 50s – mixed with sound effects from all over the city – bits of voices, traffic, crowds, ships, and more – a wonderful pastiche of music and moments! (Jazz, Now Sound) LP, Vinyl record album

Very groovy stuff from Cugie! It's the late 60s, and he's got more of a pop Latin groove than earlier – and lays down some nice peppy covers of pop material, plus a few other Latin standards. Not exactly Latin soul – but not that far off, either. Includes a great version of "Samba Saravah", plus "Mellow Yellow", "Compadre Pedro Juan", "Shadow Of Your Smile", "Jungle Rhumba", and the perennial favorite "Music To Watch Girls By". (Latin, Now Sound) LP, Vinyl record album

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(Jazz, Now Sound) LP, Vinyl record album

Not actually music with Kim Novak – but a set of musical backdrops by Morris Stoloff – designed as a package for the film Jeanne Eagels! The cover has a great color shot on the front, and smaller images of Kim on the back – and the music is surprisingly dark and moody. (Soundtracks, Now Sound) LP, Vinyl record album

Groovy studio electric guitar tracks with orchestra, played by the master, Vinnie Bell. Vinnie plays a number of groovy pop cuts from the late 60's, like "If We Only Had Time", "Aquarius", "Good Morning Starshine", "Les Bicyclettes De Belsize", and "Hey Jude", with a nice easy groovy feel. Some of the other cuts are standards, but they're given the Bell twist, with a late 60's pop feel to them. LP, Vinyl record album

A really wonderful album from the height of the exotica years – but a set that's got a fair bit more jazz in the mix than most from that generation too! Gene Rains plays vibes – and moves between moodier moments, ala Martin Denny/Arthur Lyman, and more straightforward jazz styles – which often have some great modal elements in the mix! The Rains group played hotels in Hawaii during the late 50s and early 60s – but are maybe more like a Pacific take on territory of the Quartette Tres Bien, thanks to strong work from Allen Watanabe on drums, Archie Grant on bass, and Byron Peterson on piano. Titles include "Mapuana", "Bancock Cock Fight", "Tiki", "Off Shore", "Shadow Of Love", "Jasmine & Jade", and "Lonely Winter". CD

The groovy Brit piano player lays down a set of standards like "Bewitched", "Canadian Sunset", and "Stardust" – plus some groovier stuff like "Voodoo Moon", "Miserlou", and "Inka Dinka Doo". CD

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A classic Christmas album of makeout music from British bandleader Stanley Black! It's clear that the guy on the cover has his mind on a lot more than what's under the tree – and after pouring some bubbly, and treating his lady to some diamonds, he's ready to put on the moves – either that, or he's somehow got his teeth stuck in her hair! Regardless of the setting, though, Stanley Black serves up some nicely mellow music for the later hours of Christmas Eve – string-laden readings of Holiday tunes, done up in a nice mix of familiar and original tunes – with titles that include "Dreaming", "Christmas Island", "Santo Natale", "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus", "Christmas Alphabet", and "By The Fireside". (Holiday Music, Now Sound) CD

A pretty nice set of "mood jazz in hi fi" – featuring Don on the mellophone, trumpet, and vibes – working with a surprisingly hip group that features Bill Evans, Hal McKusick, Paul Motian, and Barry Galbraith. A number of tunes feature backings by a vocal choir of 6 voices – dreamily setting a field of sound for the main soloists to work through – creating a style that actually works better here than some of Elliott's straighter jazz sides of the time. Titles include "A Waltz", "Blue Waltz", "Poinciana", "Summer Scene", "Tired Of Me", and "A Million Dreams Ago". Quite nice, with some dark and modern edges that you wouldn't expect! (Jazz, Now Sound) LP, Vinyl record album

A bizarre postwar effort from composer Gordon Jenkins – and one of the first full concept albums ever recorded! The record tells the tale of "seven dreams" experienced by narrator Bill Lee – set to lush orchestrations by Jenkins, and delivered with lots of lively vocalizations by members of the entire musical cast. Despite the very trippy cover, the dreams themselves aren't as surreal as you might expect – although the overall presentation of the material in recorded music format definitely is revolutionary for the time – kind of a mini-movie in sound, balanced oddly between it's own high concept and some more familiar vocal modes used to deliver the tunes. Dreams include "The Professor", "The Conductor", "The Nightmare", "The Girl On The Rock", "The Cocktail Party", and "The Pink Houseboat". LP, Vinyl record album

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The birth of genius – 2 key mid 60s albums from swinging Brit jazzer Johnny Keating – both of which showcase his tightly rhythmic "Keating Sound" approach! Keating had originally worked as an arranger in the 50s group of Ted Heath, but after stepping out on his own in the 60s, he came up with a really fresh approach to big band grooving – one that was highly syncopated, in a choppier style of rhythm than many other groups were using at the time, and which was very much in the snapping mode of the best 60s pop work of the time. This new sound meant that Keating could take just about any tune and swing it on its ear – cutting up the basic structure of the song, and rebuilding it in sharper, tighter blocks of sound. The result is a style that's quite different from the usual big band groove – one that makes for some extremely playful instrumentation, but which manages to still keep moving strongly ahead without resorting to too many tricks or gimmicks. For both albums, Keating's working with some great British talents that include Shake Keane on trumpet, Tubby Hayes on saxes, David Snell on harp, and Jim Sullivan on guitar. The CD features a total of 24 tracks that are a wonderful introduction to the Keating Sound of the 60s – with titles that inlcude "Paris", "Brave New World", "Serenata", "Speak Low", "Listen", "The Preacher", "Hey Girl", "Bee Bom", "My Kind Of Girl", and "The Chihuahua". (Jazz, Now Sound) CD

A pretty nice album of exotica material – much better than most of the other Hawaiian LPs floating around at the time, and very much in the spirit of the best work by Martin Denny or Arthur Lyman. The instrumentation here is a mix of piano, vibes, and percussion – and the recording style has the instruments drifting very quietly about, sliding into one another with less of a dramatic feel than on other exotic albums – which really works well in creating a backdrop of sound. Titles include "The Naked Sea", "Ebb Tide", "Danse Arabe", "Hana Maui", "Ringo Oiwake", and "Africa". LP, Vinyl record album

Classic madness from William Shatner – a whole set of tunes performed in his famous role as Captain Kirk! The album's got a creepy sort of darkness that's hard to deny – especially as Shatner speaks, more than sings, most of the tunes on the set – giving them a very dramatic sort of reading, which is further underscored by his recitations of bits of Shakespeare too! Don Ralke did the arrangements, which move between serious and groovy – and titles include "How Insensitive", "Mr Tambourine Man", "The Transformed Man", "It Was A Very Good Year", "Elegy For The Brave", and "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds". (Vocalists, Now Sound) CD

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A groovy record from the International Pop All Stars for Decca's Phase 4 label of percussion & strings oriented LPs! Vibrations Around The World has a groovy, moddish, cheeky charm with an international focus, picking themes to represent countries as if this were some kind of easy listening Olympics! "Aquarius" reps the USA, "Greensleeves" is for the UK, "Tulips From Amsterdam" represents Holland, "One One Samba" stands for Brazil, and more. LP, Vinyl record album

A rare holiday album from string maestro Felix Slatkin – one of the more dynamic orchestra leaders to record for Liberty Records during the glory days of bachelor pad music! Felix is usually in a style that's got more zing in the strings – but here, he steps things down a bit for a set of Holiday goodies – turning his orchestra arrangements to Christmas tunes, with a slight flair from time to time that keeps the record from sounding as sleepy as it might if it were on a label like Columbia or Decca. Titles include "Deck The Halls", "White Christmas", "Adeste Fideles", "O Holy Night", "Joy To The World", and "Away In A Manger". (Holiday Music, Now Sound) CD