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Tracks include "The Thrill Is Gone", "Time After Time", "Look For The Silver Lining", "Daybreak", "Just Friends", and "My Ideal" – 20 cuts total. (Jazz, Vocalists) CD

Ella Fitzgerald sings Broadway – but in a way that makes the tunes completely her own! Marty Paich turns in some great jazzy arrangements for the set – and the tunes are far more swinging than the usual showtunes you might expect – stripped of all their stage-bound drama, and retooled by Paich as these tight little vehicles for Ella's amazing vocals! The album's arguably more expressive than even some of Fitzgerald's previous songbook sessions – even though most work comes from the same American stage mode – titles that include "Hernando's Hideaway", "I Could Have Danced All Night", "Whatever Lola Wants", "Guys and Dolls", "If I Were A Bell", "No Other Love", and "Steam Heat". CD

Not much here in the way of notes, but a great little session – one of those mature, intimate sessions that Irene Kral recorded so beautifully in the later years of her life! The track selection is quite strong – lesser-known numbers that offer a sophisticated look at love and live, often with a nice undercurrent of wit – sung just right by Irene with the sort of inflections to underscore the best elements of the lyrics, without getting too kitschy or cloying. There's only a bit of piano and bass to back up the vocals on most tracks – although the instrumentation, which is uncredited, also features guitar, flute, and percussion on other numbers. Titles include "Unlit Room", "On Top Of Mt Tipsy", "Once Upon Another Time", "Misty Roses", "Wheelers & Dealers", "Lady Of Lavender", "Lucky To Be Me", "Little Bitty Boy", and "Poems To Eat". CD

A really tremendous album from the legendary Gil Scott-Heron – and a set that stands as one of his greatest statements from the 70s! The record is a wonderful example of Gil's work in two different styles – sweet mellow jazzy soul, and harder heavier protest poetry – the latter from his roots as a writer in touch with the streets, and the former part of a brilliant new direction that he was taking on the Flying Dutchman label. Side one features classic jazzy tracks recorded with Brian Jackson – like "Free Will", "The Middle Of Your Days", "Speed Kills", and "Did You Hear What They Said?". Side two moves over to a much sparer sound – and has Gil reciting some of his poetry with very heavy percussion, and a very righteous approach. The wisdom and knowledge of those pieces is a perfect example of the kinds of issues that were haunting black America in the early 70s – especially on the tracks "No Knock", "The King Alfred Plan", and "Sex Education: Ghetto Style". CD version features 8 bonus tracks – alternate versions of some of the heavier-duty tunes on the album, some of which are quite different than the originals! Also includes new notes and photos! (Soul, Vocalists) CD

5 classic albums from Nina Simone – packaged together in one sweet little set! First up is Nuff Said – a great little album from Nina – mostly recorded live at the Westbury Music Fair, with a hip mix of jazz, soul, and folk that's stretched out in a slightly informal setting that always brings out the best of Nina's vocals! Tracks include "The Backlash Blues", "Please Read Me", "Sunday In Savannah", "Why? (The King Of Love Is Dead)", and the nice jazzer "In The Morning". Plus, the album also includes one straight soul number – "Do What You Gotta Do", with some great arrangements by Horace Ott. Next is To Love Somebody – one of Nina's greatest records – recorded with her cool combo that included Weldon Irvine! Weldon's on organ on the set, and he co-wrote the two-part track "Revolution" with Simone, one of the album's strongest numbers! That track is set amidst covers of other hip 60s material, including "Turn Turn Turn", "To Love Somebody", "I Can't See Nobody", and "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" – all done with a freely righteous style that has Nina cutting loose at the end of the 60s! Black Gold is a real classic from Nina, one of the excellent sets she cut with the Stroud Productions imprint during the early 70s! The style here is even hipper than her late 60s work on Philips – with a mixture of open-ended jazz and soul that's best summed up in the album's extended reading of "Black is the Color of My True Love's Hair", and a great version of "To Be Young Gifted & Black", which was written by Weldon Irvine, who's probably playing piano here with Nina. It Is Finished is the kind of record that once made purists turn up their noses, but which is now being rediscovered as a unique jazz/soul crossover album, filled with loads of nice moments! The instrumentation's pretty darn interesting – and includes sitar, harp, Spanish guitar, and other odd percussion instruments. Includes Nina's nice version of "Funkier Than a Mosquito's Tweeter", plus "I Want A Little Sugar In My Bowl", "Dambala", "Obeah Woman", and "The Pusher". Nina Simone & Piano is a strong back to basics session for Nina, one that featured her piano and vocals only, a very spare approach that was markedly different from her work a few years previously for other labels. Nina's tone on the piano is incredible – and she's working with some striking modern jazz changes that offset the folksiness of her vocals in a fantastic way, creating a sound that's a lot fuller than you'd expect! Titles include "Seems I'm Never Tired Lovin You", "Compensation", "Everyone's Gone To The Moon", "Nobody's Fault But Mine", "I Think It's Going To Rain Today", "The Desperate Ones", "The Human Touch", and "Another Spring". CD

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