One of Astrud Gilberto's greatest albums of the 60s – a classic session produced for Verve by Creed Taylor, and featuring sweet gentle arrangements from Marty Paich, co-arranged with Antonio Carlos Jobim, who also plays guitar on the session next to the piano of Joao Donato! That's a mouthful of heavy-hitters, we know – but the result is a totally great session that has Astrud's light and gentle vocals drifting over some of the most magical bossa backings you'll ever hear. The whole thing's great, stuffed with bossa classics done in English – and titles include "Once I Loved", "Aqua De Beber", "O Morro", "Dindi", "Dreamer", and "Photograph". (Brazil, Vocalists) LP, Vinyl record album

An unusual record for Astrud Gilberto – one that has her updating her older sound by working with Philly producer Vince Montana! The approach blends Montana's Philly club in with Astrud's gently bossa-schooled vocals – in a way that glides along nicely and offers the same sort of disco-fied version of styles that were showing up in other genres at the time. The strength, though, is that since Astrud had already cut a funkier album earlier in the 70s for Perception, she was a bit better prepared to handle the session than you might guess – and the overall arrangements still have some stylistic links back to her older work. Arrangements are by Vince Montana, Don Sebesky, and Al Gorgoni – and titles include "Black Magic", "Meu Piao", "All I've Got", "Love For Sale", and the creepy "Puppy Song"! (Note: This item is not for sale online until 7:00am on Sunday, April 21. It is in limited supply – and by nature of the Record Store Day rules it will be offered for sale first to customers who visit the Dusty Groove retail outlet in Chicago the morning of Saturday, April 20. It will not be pre-sold or reserved in any way. However, after 7:00am on April 21 we will offer up whatever we have left for sale online.) (Brazil, Vocalists) LP, Vinyl record album

One of our favorite records from the early Sinatra years of Reprise – and one of the few documents of the talents of the legendary Joe E Lewis! After Sinatra famously played Lewis on screen, he furthered his tribute to the tragic figure by taping Joe at the Flamingo Hotel in Vegas – a wonderful live set presented here, with all the raw energy that made Joe a key inspiration for The Rat Pack! (Comedy, Vocalists) LP, Vinyl record album

A really unusual record from early 70s Japan – one that features vocals from erotic actress Reiko Ike – done in a mode that's very similar to her sexy appearances on screen! And in fact, when we say "vocals", maybe "vocalizations" should be more the case – as many of these tracks are sexy grunts, groans, and exclamations – mixed with a bit of more conventional singing – set to instrumentation that's groovy and jazzy, and which has some nice soundtrack modes in the styles – all almost like an audio equivalent of softcore porn, with a quality that's enough to make Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin blush! (Japanese, Vocalists) LP, Vinyl record album

An overlooked gem from the early Reprise recordings of Frank Sinatra – done with full arrangements by Gordon Jenkins, in the moody late nite vibe of some of his late 50s work for Capitol! Titles include "All Alone", "What'll I Do", "When I Lost You", "Oh How I Miss You Tonight", "Indiscreet", "Remember", "Together", and "The Song Is Ended". LP, Vinyl record album

One of Frank Sinatra's last great ballad albums for Capitol – a sad and dreamy batch of tunes that kicks off with the incredible "Only The Lonely" – one of those Sinatra torch songs that's so great, so sad, nobody else has ever been able to record a better version, nor have they really tried! The rest of the album's great, too – with arrangements by Nelson Riddle that are very much in the Wee Small Hours mode – expressive, but subtle and sophisticated – at that level that set Sinatra so far apart from most other male singers of the 50s. Despite the creepy cover, there's a mature, adult approach to the whole thing – a new level of emotion that most other singers wouldn't find for a decade. Titles include "Only The Lonely", "Angel Eyes", "What's New", "Ebb Tide", "Spring Is Here", "Goodbye", and the sublime "One For My Baby". LP, Vinyl record album

A comprehensive overview of Frank's early work for Columbia – packaged as a six LP set, with each album divided up into themes that include Saloon Songs, Standards, Screen, Love Songs, Swings, and Stage. The package is a great way to navigate the complicated set of recordings done by Sinatra in the pre-album years, and until the release of the complete Columbia sides as a CD set, this one was your best chance to look at these years. Titles include early versions of "One For My Baby", "September Song", "Love Me", "Should I", "Blue Skies", "I Couldn't Sleep A Wink Last Night", "Saturday Night Is The Loneliest Night Of The Week", and "When Your Lover Has Gone". LP, Vinyl record album

A real standout in the classic catalog of ECM – not only because the record's got a slightly different inspiration than most, but also because it seems to unlock some especially beautiful moments from players who could sound different in other settings on the label! As the title indicates, the tunes here all take inspiration from the poetry of Robert Creeley – but never in a mode that's got the usual jazz meets poetry approach – as Sheila Jordan sings the lyrics when they appear, with a sense of her own power that's very different than a more standard recitation – and which, to us, really feels a lot like her great vocal performances with Steve Kuhn for ECM. Kuhn is also in the group on piano, and other musicians include David Liebman on saxes, Lyle Mays on keyboards, and Bob Moses on drums – all working under the superb leadership of bassist Steve Swallow – who really outdid himself with the depth of feeling in this project. Titles include "Colors", "In The Fall", "She Was Young", "Some Echoes", "Ice Cream", and "You Didn't Think". (Jazz, Vocalists) LP, Vinyl record album

Great live work from Mel Torme – a 14 track set that's done with spare backings from the Al Pellegrini Trio – possibly the most stripped-down Torme recording from these early years, delivered with an intimacy that's quite different than some of Mel's work on Bethlehem! Pellegrini plays mostly piano, but also a bit of clarinet too – given that Torme also handles a bit of piano – and the backings are always somewhat light, so that Mel's voice really dominates the proceedings. Titles include "County Fair", "Goody Goody", "You're Driving Me Crazy", "Jeepers Creepers", "Get Happy", "Get Out Of Town", and "From This Moment On". LP, Vinyl record album

Ward performs with a stellar ensemble led by Bucky Pizzarelli, including Steve Jordan, Bernie Privin, Pee Wee Erwin, Ruby Braff, George Masso, Vic Dickenson, Phil Bodner, Al Cohn, Mickey Crane, Tony Monte, Warren Chiasson, Milt Hinton, Slam Stewart, Butch Miles, and Bobby Rosengarden. Titles include "I've Got The World On A String", "Pennies From Heaven", "Goody Goody", "Jeepers Creepers", "S Wonderful", "Sweet Georgia Brown" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

Hip stuff by Nancy Wilson – and a sophisticated album of soul tracks arranged and produced by Gene Page, in a string-heavy, slightly-funky style that reminds us of Gene's work with Barry White at the time. The tracks are all pretty hip – and include titles written by Stevie Wonder, Johnny Guitar Watson, Thom Bell & Linda Creed, Billy Page, and Tennyson Stevens. No standout tracks, but plenty of nice moments, and a good side of Nancy's career that isn't always given that much exposure. Titles include "Tell The Truth", "Try It, You'll Like It", "All In Love Is Fair", "There'll Always Be Forever", and "You're As Right As Rain". LP, Vinyl record album

Hip stuff by Nancy Wilson – and a sophisticated album of soul tracks arranged and produced by Gene Page, in a string-heavy, slightly-funky style that reminds us of Gene's work with Barry White at the time. The tracks are all pretty hip – and include titles written by Stevie Wonder, Johnny Guitar Watson, Thom Bell & Linda Creed, Billy Page, and Tennyson Stevens. No standout tracks, but plenty of nice moments, and a good side of Nancy's career that isn't always given that much exposure. Titles include "Tell The Truth", "Try It, You'll Like It", "All In Love Is Fair", "There'll Always Be Forever", and "You're As Right As Rain". LP, Vinyl record album