An incredible full length debut from vocalist Mario Biondi – a jazz singer we'd rank right up there with the legendary Mark Murphy – supported here with great backings from the High Five Quintet! The grooves here are in a soaring, tightly-stepping style – very much the best club jazz mode of the contemporary European scene – with all-acoustic instrumentation, and rhythms that move along at a really great dancefloor pace! Mario's vocals are really unique too – with a little rasp that catches slightly, and really brings a timeless quality to his voice – mixing personal feeling into the lively numbers on the album, with an unexpected depth that really makes the album stand out from similar sessions of this type! There's echoes of hip vocal jazz work from years past by artists like The Peddlers, Bobby Cole, or Mark Murphy – and titles include "A Child Runs Free", "No Mercy For Me", "This Is What You Are", "I Can't Keep From Cryin Sometimes", "Rio De Janeiro Blue", "Handful Of Soul", "On A Clear Day", "Never Die", "No Trouble On The Mountain", "Slow Hot Wind", and "Gig". (New Grooves, Vocalists) LP, Vinyl record album

A wonderful chapter in the career of Ray Charles – and a key album in helping raise his respect level a notch or two in the early 60s! We might argue with the mathematics in the title – or at least joke that Ray was using equations as titles years before Anthony Braxton – but you can't contest the fact that this one's a classic treat, and a legendary attempt to class up Ray's bluesy style for the masses. Quincy Jones and Ralph Burns handled the arrangements, and given that the record was issued by ABC a few years before they brought Ray into a country mode, it's interesting to think what might have happened had his career continued this way. There's only a small number of vocal tracks on the record, and most of the rest feature Ray at the organ, grooving away very nicely! Titles include "One Mint Julep", "Moanin", "I've Got News For You", "Mister C", and "Stompin Room Only". (Soul, Vocalists) 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

Really fantastic later work from Bobby Darin – material that's quite different than the simple pop of his early Atco years, and even the jazzier style he used earlier on in the 60s! The set is one of two issued by the Direction label – and features Bobby taking off from some of the Tim Hardin-inspired modes he was using later on at Atlantic – picking up some of the deeper themes of the earlier singer-songwriter years – and singing in a very moody, contemplative style! According to some, Darin was aware that his health only gave him a few more years to live – which was part of the introspection of the music – and although the style owes a lot to Tim Hardin and some of his contemporaries, the songs are all originals by Darin – with some elements that are very different than before. Tracks include "Hey Magic Man", "Light Blue", "Distractions", and "Song For a Dollar". Features four bonus tracks too – "Sweet Reasons", "Maybe We Can Get It Together", "Baby Man", and "RX Pyro (Prescription Fire)". LP, Vinyl record album

Late work from the great Billie Holiday – the kind of mature set that made Verve Records such a perfect home for the singer in the 50s! Where other labels might have pushed too much to try to get Billie into more commercial, or more straightforward modes – Verve just relaxes into the kind of small combo sound that usually had the singer at her best – pairing Holiday with a great lineup that includes Harry Edison on trumpet, Ben Webster on tenor, Jimmy Rowles on piano, and Barney Kessel on guitar. The songs are short and focused – with Billie at the top of her form on familiar standards like "Comes Love", "Darn That Dream", "Body & Soul", "They Can't Take That Away From Me", and "Embraceable You". LP, Vinyl record album