Four classic albums from Jackie DeShannon – all in a single set! First up is Me About You – sophisticated Jackie at her best – working with great arrangements from Jack Nitzsche and Nick DeCaro – both cats from the California scene we can really trust for "cut-above" pop work like this – music that goes way past the simple sounds of DeShannon's start – into cool adult territory that really makes the album great. Jackie's vocals are surprisingly soulful in the setting – even more so than before – and the tunes include lots of gems, including versions of Van Dyke Parks' "High Coin", John Sebastian's "Didn't Want To Have To Do It", and Tim Hardin's "Baby Close Its Eyes". Also includes "I Keep Wanting You", "Me About You", and "Nicole". Next is Laurel Canyon – heady work from Jackie DeShannon's later years in 60s pop – an album with themes and styles that go way beyond her earlier recordings – as you might guess from the hip Laurel Canyon reference in the title! Jackie's working here in a mode that's much more strongly in a singer-songwriter style than before – with arrangements and backings that are a lot more organic, and less pop-tuned than ever – almost in a Laura Nyro approach on some numbers. As usual, a good portion of the tracks were written by Jackie herself – including "Holly Would", "Come & Stay With Me", "LA", "Too Close", and "Laurel Canyon" – and the album also features a few well chosen tracks by other writers too, like "Bitter Honey" by Paul Williams & Roger Nichols, "I Got My Reason" by Barry White, and "You've Really Got A Hold On Me" by Smokey Robinson. Put A Little Love In Your Heart is quite possibly the last great hit from singer Jackie DeShannon – an album built around the righteous spirit of the title track – filled with really wonderful original tunes penned by Jackie and soul singer Jimmy Holiday! The album may well be the best to explore the space between pop and soul that often characterized Jackie's work – and the overall sound is somewhat similar to some of Dusty Springfield's best pop/soul work from the same stretch. 10 of the album's 12 tracks are originals by Holiday and DeShannon – all set to soaring orchestrations by James Langeford, which often have a pronounced influence from the sound of Atlantic Records in the late 60s! Titles include "Put A Little Love In Your Heart", "You Are The Real Thing", "River Of Love", "Movin", "You Can Come To Me", "You Have A Way With Me", and "I Let Go Completely". To Be Free is an interesting little record – with kind of a crossover California soul feel overall – recorded with Rene Hall arrangements that echo a few rootsy modes at times, mixed in with fuller orchestrations that step a bit back towards Jackie's earlier years on Imperial – a surprisingly nice blend, with a fresh sound for the 70s. The album features a number of great tracks co-written with Jimmy Holiday – a fellow Imperial talent – and titles include "Mediterranean Sky", "Sooner Or Later", "What Was Your Day Like", "Livin On The Easy Side", "Brighton Hill", and "When Morning Comes Again". (Rock, Vocalists) CD

A hip album from Sarah Vaughan – one recorded with great jazz backings from Ernie Wilkins, and featuring a young Cannonball Adderley as the main soloist! The addition of Adderley's alto definitely brings a swinging sound to the set – a sense of soul that's even deeper than usual for Vaughan, and which helps the album live up to its hi-fi promise! Wilkins arrangements have a bit of a Basie bounce at times, but never overwhelm Sarah's vocals – and Jimmy Jones is also on the set, handling the piano lines. Titles include "An Occasional Man", "Oh My", "Soon", "How High The Moon", "It Shouldn't Happen To A Dream", and "Maybe". LP, Vinyl record album

A unique concert album from Dionne Warwick – proof that her talents weren't always restricted to Burt Bacharach arrangements in the studio! The setting is the classy Olympia Theater in Paris, and the style is a bit more open than on Dionne's studio albums – with less material by Bacharach & David than before, and a wider range of tunes that not only includes a few songs sung in French, but also a duet with Parisian popper Sacha Distel! The audience is oddly mic'ed up very high in the mix at times – crashing into the start of most tunes with the ferocity of radio static or a swarm of bees – but Warwick quickly takes over with her own vocals once the songs get going. Titles include "I Love Paris", "C'Est Si Bon", "Walk On By", "You'll Never Get To Heaven", "O Yeah Yeah Yeah", "The Good Life", "La Vie En Rose", and "What'd I Say". (Soul, Vocalists) LP, Vinyl record album

One of the last great records ever cut by Jon Hendricks – one of our favorite singers of all time! The album's a bit of a "tour de force" – with Hendricks singing alongside a host of famous jazz musicians and vocalists, working in an all star setting that's sometimes too good for its own good, but at other times works magically! The best moments are those when Jon actually takes the lead himself, singing in that warm, raspy, honest style that's always made him the kind of a singer that brings meaning to lyrics that always leave us cold from other vocalists. The album's got a wonderful re-reading of the Italian classic "Estate", redone here with English lyrics as "In Summer" – and one of Hendricks finest moments on record! Other tracks include "Listen To Monk", "Sugar", "Freddie Freeloader", "High As A Mountain", "Trinkle Tinkle", and "The Finer Things In Life" – and players include Tommy Flanagan, George Benson, Wynton Marsalis, Stanley Turrentine, and Al Jarreau. CD

A great illustration of the upbeat, positive vibe that Peggy Lee could serve up when she was at her best – a cool Capitol Records mode that really helped Lee set a whole new tone for singers in the 60s! The great Jack Marshall is at the helm on arrangements – putting things together with a vibe that's bright, but also pretty modern as well – thanks to work from a west coast jazz lineup that includes Shelly Manne on drums, Joe Harnell on piano, Pete Candoli on trumpet, and Barney Kessel on guitar! The set includes Lee's famous version of "Fever" – plus "It's A Wonderful World", "Things Are Swingin'", Alright, Okay, You Win", "Ridin' High", "Alone Together", "Life For Livin'", and"You Don't Know". A classic collaboration between Peggy Lee and Nelson Riddle – and a record that really set the tone for Lee's famous Capitol sides of the 60s! The groove here is very upbeat – as you might guess from the title – with a bouncing, almost syncopated approach that's definitely Riddle's, but which also hints at some of Lee's more soul-based backings of the 60s from Jack Marshall – those slinky-stepping groovers that would really put her back in front of American ears. Many tunes are older numbers, but they're updated nicely by Riddle's playful backings – and cuts include "Jump For Joy", "Back In Your Own Back Yard", "Old Devil Moon", "What A Little Moonlight Can Do", "Just In Time", "Music Music Music", "Four Or Five Times", and "Ain't We Got Fun". CD

A hip album from Sarah Vaughan – one recorded with great jazz backings from Ernie Wilkins, and featuring a young Cannonball Adderley as the main soloist! The addition of Adderley's alto definitely brings a swinging sound to the set – a sense of soul that's even deeper than usual for Vaughan, and which helps the album live up to its hi-fi promise! Wilkins arrangements have a bit of a Basie bounce at times, but never overwhelm Sarah's vocals – and Jimmy Jones is also on the set, handling the piano lines. Titles include "An Occasional Man", "Oh My", "Soon", "How High The Moon", "It Shouldn't Happen To A Dream", and "Maybe". CD

A hip album from Sarah Vaughan – one recorded with great jazz backings from Ernie Wilkins, and featuring a young Cannonball Adderley as the main soloist! The addition of Adderley's alto definitely brings a swinging sound to the set – a sense of soul that's even deeper than usual for Vaughan, and which helps the album live up to its hi-fi promise! Wilkins arrangements have a bit of a Basie bounce at times, but never overwhelm Sarah's vocals – and Jimmy Jones is also on the set, handling the piano lines. Titles include "An Occasional Man", "Oh My", "Soon", "How High The Moon", "It Shouldn't Happen To A Dream", and "Maybe". LP, Vinyl record album

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 great batch of jazz and pop vocal tracks, and possibly the finest record that singer Teri Thornton ever cut in the 60s! The title track has Teri singing the theme to the show Route 66, and there's lots of other nice numbers like "This Is All I Ask", "The Day I Stop Loving You", "Goodbye Is A Lonesome Sound", and "Seems Like Old Times". Larry Wilcox did the backing, which has a nice mix of jazz and swinging grooves. LP, Vinyl record album

One of Tony Bennett's greatest jazz sessions – a sublime mid 50s outing that features small combo backing from guitarist Chuck Wayne! The setting is extremely spare for the time – a real contrast from the higher drama of some of Tony's 50s chart hits, and the kind of a record that really lets him open up with the warmer vocal tones that could sometimes be lost on the pop numbers. Wayne's guitar is great too, really chromatic and moody, bringing out the darker colors in the tunes nicely. Other players include Dave Schildkraut on alto and Al Cohn on tenor – and titles include "Darn That Dream", "My Reverie", "I Fall In Love Too Easily", "My Heart Tells Me", "Old Devil Moon", and "Love Letters". CD

A stunning live recording from Elis Regina – one of the last few records she cut during her short time on this planet – and one of the best as well! The album's got a jazzy fire that's missing from some of Regina's other material of the time – and Elis sings with a group that includes a stellar guest performance by Hermeto Pascoal on a number of tracks, and runs through a lively set of tracks that includes a bunch of excellent groovers – upbeat numbers that almost get a bit funky at times. A highlight of the album is the long cut "Cobra Criada", which builds slowly into a complex funky line, with Elis scatting madly over the top. Other goodies include "Asa Branca", "Cai Dentro", "Garota De Ipanema", and a great remake of "Upa Neguinho", with nice messed-up arrangements. (Brazil, Vocalists) LP, Vinyl record album

Capitol greatness from Nancy Wilson – a pair of excellent albums locked together on one CD! This Mother's Daughter is one of Nancy Wilson's hippest albums from the 70s – a great record of smooth mellow tracks produced by Eugene McDaniels, handled with some nice jazzy flourishes, and a warm soulful sound that brings out the best in Nancy's vocals! If you've dug her vocals on the Life, Love, & Harmony album, you'll find that this one's pretty similar – with some great easily grooving tunes that well mark her move into modern soul – and a sophistication that goes way beyond her work of the 60s! Titles include "China", "I Don't Want A Sometimes Man", "From You To Me To You", "Stay Tuned", "When We Were One", and "Now". On I've Never Been To Me, Nancy Wilson hits hard on two different levels – some of the mellow, sophisticated numbers that made her mid 70s years so great – and a few more upbeat groovers that aim strongly for the clubs! The blend is carried off well here – thanks to production and arrangements from Gene Page and Garry Sherman – both of whom avoid any too-commercial modes and really help keep the album at a level that works perfect for Wilson's huge legacy in soul music! The sound often has that great Capitol Rare blend of class and soul – and titles include "Love Is Alive", "Flying High", "All By Myself", "Here It Comes", "Moments", "Changes", and "Nobody". CD