An early gem from singer Freda Payne – recorded back in the days when she was a jazz vocalist, years before her famous hits as a soul artist in the early 70s! The album's a darkly-tinged session with arrangements by Manny Albam – done in the late nite mode that you'd expect from the title, and featuring the kind of sad songs that you'd hear on an album from the time by Lorez Alexandria. The highlight of the album is a great vocal reading of Ornette Coleman's "Lonely Woman" – and other tracks include "Out Of This World", "Sweet September", "Blue Piano", and "After The Lights Go Down Low". LP, Vinyl record album

This was Jackie & Roy's first album for Columbia and it mainly consists of some familiar tunes by the likes of Ira & George Gershwin, Rodgers & Hart and Cole Porter with a Roy Kral original thrown in. The tracks include "Chicago", "Fun Life", "Mountain Greenery", Kral's "Wingin' With The Wind", "Cheek To Cheek", and "They Can't Take That Away From Me". Jackie & Roy are accompanied by some well known musicians such as Barney Kessel on guitar, Larry Bunker on vibraphone, Anthony Ortega on alto sax and flute and Kral plays the piano. LP, Vinyl record album

A great cooker from the glory days of Ernestine Anderson on Concord Records – a time when the singer was rediscovered, and revamped in a bit of a bluesy mode – reaching a wide new audience at the time! Her vocals really shine at this point in her career, as she lets loose with a bit more personality too – as you'll hear on this swinging set of down home numbers, cut with a combo that includes Red Holloway on tenor, Ray Brown on bass, and Gene Harris on piano! Titles include "Someone Else Is Steppin", "Goin To Chicago Blues", "Alone On My Own", "Mercy Mercy Mercy", and "I Love Being Here With You". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the folksiest albums we've ever heard from Jackie DeShannon – a record that's heavy on acoustic guitar and folk-styled numbers, but which also features some top-shelf LA arrangements from the great Jack Nitzsche! Jackie takes on a number of folk hits of the day, but delivers them with a surprisingly strong approach – still a bit pop, but with an expressive quality in her vocals that may well beat most of the other pop folkies of the time. Titles include "Walkin Down The Line", "Don't Think Twice It's Alright", "Baby Let Me Follow", and "Jailer Bring Me Water" – but the set also includes "Needles & Pins", which is one of Jackie's most soulful tunes ever! (Rock, Vocalists) LP, Vinyl record album

A rare vocal session from Jane Powell – a singer better known for her film performances, but who sounds pretty darn great here on an obscure 50s studio session for Verve! Jane's got a higher-voiced style than most of the other singers on Verve, but she's brought down to earth nicely by arranger Buddy Bregman – who manages to keep things jazzy and swinging, but also creates some of the loftier modes from her film work – some lush moments that really come through on the mellower tracks. Titles include "My Baby Just Cares For Me", "Comes Love", "In Love In Vain", "Can't We Be Friends", "Imagination", and "Ev'ry Time". LP, Vinyl record album

Sarah Vaughan may be known for an earlier recording of After Hours for the Columbia label in the 50s – but on this early 60s set for Roulette, the title really fits her style – and is perfect for the mature, melancholy way that Vaughan has of putting over a tune! Sarah always had a strongly technical side to her singing, but on a record like this, she also hits a more naturalistic sort of approach – almost in a Nancy Wilson level, in the way that she makes you feel like she's relating the tune to you personally – although with deeper currents of emotion, but delivered in a very subtle way – partly due to the stripped-down sound of the album. The instrumentation helps hit that late nite vibe that's perfect for the material – thanks to guitar from Mundell Lowe and bass from George Duvivier – on titles that include "Vanity", "My Favorite Things", "Sophisticated Lady", "Easy To Love", "If Love Is Good To Me", and "Great Day". LP, Vinyl record album

We know it's hard to think of anyone named Mildred as hip, but take it from us, the lady's actually a great singer with a deep capacity for jazzy blues and mellow R&B. These rare Savoy sides were cut during the years 1946 and 1947, and they feature great backing by pianist Ellis Larkin on nearly every cut, set up in either small combo or large group settings. Titles include "At Sundown", "Love In Vain", "It's A Woman's Prerogative", "You Started Something", and "Born To Be Blue". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the weirdest, wildest pop albums of the 60s – maybe the crowning achievement of both Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood – two artists who'd worked together before, but never with an intensity this great! The record is overflowing with all the great touches you'd expect from Lee – that sense of spacious production, all-adult performance, and deep-tinged vocals that are a perfect counterpoint for the lighter style of Nancy – almost as if he's continuing to urge her to adulthood over the course of the set – which he certainly does through the sensuality of the performance! The album features the insanely wonderful "Some Velvet Morning" – a pop duet unlike anything you've ever heard – plus Hazlewood tunes "Summer Wine", "Sand", "Lady Bird", "I've Been Down So Long", and "Sundown Sundown" – but even the remakes are stunning, and include "Storybook Children", "Jackson", and "You've Lost That Lovin Feeling". LP, Vinyl record album

A collection of immortal standards performed by Vaughan, Washington, and Bailey with titles that include "Perdido", "Fly Me To The Moon", "Stormy Weather", "Summertime", "Moonglow", "Stella By Starlight", and more. Cover features a gorgeous panoramic shot of downtown Chicago in the 60s! LP, Vinyl record album

The final Warner Brothers album from Dionne Warwick – and a smooth, sophisticated affair done with full arrangements from Michael Omartian! The sound's still not as pop disco as you might expect from the time, and Dionne's gentle vocals are often cast in backings that step along nicely with a mellow, midtempo groove – one that's a bit like some of the best Philly soul of the period, yet still with a bit more California polish overall. The album works surprisingly well as a soul record – and really puts Warwick in the company of a whole generation of younger singers who'd risen above her by this point in the 70s. Titles include "One Thing On My Mind", "Don't Ever Take Your Love Away", "Livin It Up Is Startin To Get Me Down", "Since You Stayed Here", "A Long Way To Go", and "Keepin My Head Above Water". (Soul, Vocalists) LP, Vinyl record album

Early Atlantic Records work from the great Mose Allison – easily one of the most unique jazz artists of his time! Most started out as a pianist with a nicely bluesy vibe, but soon added in this excellent vocal approach that was maybe part New Orleans, part New York hipster – delivered here with a vibe that follows nicely from his earlier recordings for Columbia and Prestige Records! The sound is nice and stripped-down – none of the larger arrangements that Mose would soon use on Atlantic – and the set features accompaniment from Addison Farmer on bass and Osie Johnson on drums. Titles include the classic "Your Mind Is On Vacation" – plus "I Don't Worry About A Thing", "It Didn't Turn Out That Way", "Stand By", "Meet Me At No Special Place", and "The Song Is Ended". LP, Vinyl record album

We're always big fans of Bev Kelly's work, but this album is way hipper than the usual vocal album of its type from the time – thanks to a sweet little lineup that features Pony Poindexter on alto sax and Flip Nunez on piano! The presence of Poindexter's horn is always a treat, on the handful of smaller group sides he cut from this time – and Nunez's piano lines have an inherently rhythmic groove that comes out even on the mellower numbers – which often are somewhat spacious, but stepping along with a gentle groove underneath Kelly's fantastic vocals. Part of the credit for this groove goes to Johnny Allen, whose work on bass is great – and the group's completed by the drums of Tony Johnson, who's a bit more down in the mix. Titles include "Long Ago & Far Away", "My Foolish Heart", "Night & Day", "Just Friends", "Love Letters", "This Is Always", and "My Funny Valentine". LP, Vinyl record album