A collection of early bop singles cut for Capitol – one that includes some excellent rare material, including fantastic early work by Babs Gonzales, and some of Sonny Rollins' first work on record! Babs clocks in with some great little vocal numbers that include – "Real Crazy", "Prelude To A Nightmare", "Professor Bop", and "Capitolizing" – all gems that rank with his best offbeat vocal tunes of later years. Dizzy's in a similar format on some of his tunes – titles that include "Coast To Coast", "You Stole My Wife You Horsethief", "Say When", and "Oo La La" – and Tadd Dameron finishes up the album with some great tracks that include "Sid's Delight", "Casbah", "John's Delight", and "Heaven's Doors Are Open Wide". (Jazz, Vocalists) LP, Vinyl record album

A really unique take on the music of jazz legend Tadd Dameron – a set that focuses entirely on vocal versions of his compositions – a side of Dameron's legacy that's sometimes overlooked! Tadd wasn't that much of a lyricist himself – although he did do two of the songs here – while others are written by Irving Reid, Bernie Hanighen, and Jack Reynolds – all with a mix of lyrics that really fit the famous modern idiom in Dameron's music – delivered instrumentally by a core combo that features Gary Smulyan on plenty of strong baritone sax solos, with Pete Malinverni on piano, David Wong on bass, and Matt Wilson on drums. Anais Reno handles all the vocals – and titles include "Sweet Life", "Never Been In Love", "Whatever Possessed Med", "Weekend", "Lovely One In The Window", and "You're A Joy". (Jazz, Vocalists) CD

A really cool collection, and one that will definitely blow your mind if you only know the Burt Bacharach/Dionne Warwick collaborations, or some of Burt's solo albums on his own! Bacharach started out young and early, and was effortlessly penning pop songs for singers in a variety of styles – working as part of that songwriting scene in New York that was always hustling, and able to get a surprising amount of songs into the hands of up-and-coming singers of the time! The scope of this set is stunning – as the first 3CDs feature 95 tracks penned by the young Bacharach himself – sung by a variety of artists who include The Exotics, Etta James, Gene McDaniels, Paul Evans, Marlene Dietrich, Tommy Sands, The Drifters, Frankie Avalon, The Four Coins, Marty Robbins, Sonny James, Jack Jones, Jo Stafford, Bob Manny, and many others. CD4 21 more tracks that showcase unusual but important influences on Burt's compositional style – including work by Henry Cowell, Alban Berg, Leonard Bernstein, Gill Evans, and Tadd Dameron. CD

Some of the hippest early work ever cut by Carmen McRae – with backings by Tadd Dameron and Jimmy Mundy, and a great selection of songs that brings out all the sophistication in Carmen's style, yet stays away from overly-done standards and love numbers. The set's a perfect example of how great Carmen could be in the right setting – and it's filled with great tracks like "All This Could Lead To Love", "I'm Putting All My Eggs In One Basket", "Summer Is Gone", "I Was Doing All Right", and "Even If It Breaks My Heart". LP, Vinyl record album