A rare jazz treasure from the European scene of the early 70s – killer material from a wealth of American artists and local talents – all done as special sessions for Dutch radio, and never issued to the public on record! Despite the radio origins of the music, the sound here is tremendous – easily on a par with the best MPS sessions of the time – which is no surprise, given that many of the artists here worked in similar circles! The first half of the set features the trio of pianist Louis Van Dyke augmented with guests who include Mark Murphy, Helen Merrill, Eddie Jefferson, Toots Thielemans, Herb Geller, and Dave Pike – all stepping out into the spotlight while Van Dyke's combo backs them up with lively grooves that are often heavy on bossa influences! The second half features larger orchestrations from The Metropole Orchestra – a soaring big band who groove wonderfully, often in support of vocals from Murphy or Greetje Kauffeld, but also featuring instrumental solos from European players Ack Van Rooyen, Piet Nordijk, Ferdinand Povel, and others. The whole set is worth it alone for the vocals of Murphy – because the record easily stands as some of his best work ever from this decade – and given how great Mark was at the time, that's really saying a lot! Small group titles include "Children Of The Sun", "So What", "Love Sick", "Sao Paulo", "Con Alma", "Seventh Day", and "Falling In Love With Love" – and bigger group numbers include "Out Of This World", "My Shining Hour", "Let's Fall In Love", "Get Happy", "I'll Wind", "This Time The Dream's On Me", "Paper Moon", "One For My Baby", "Come Rain Or Come Shine", and "That Old Black Magic". 37 tracks in all! (Jazz, Vocalists) CD

A brilliant album that follows on the trend that was begun by Sinatra and Tony Bennett – one that takes strong jazz backings from Count Basie to push a singer past the usual pop format! Sammy didn't always get backing this strong – and the album's got Quincy Jones handling the arrangements for Basie in the same mode the he used on the Sinatra/Basie sides for Reprise. Titles include "The Girl From Ipanema", "She's A Woman", "New York City Blues", "Work Song", and "Blues For Mr Charlie" – and the album even features Sammy doing a bit of tap dancing! CD

A brilliant album that follows on the trend that was begun by Sinatra and Tony Bennett – one that takes strong jazz backings from Count Basie to push a singer past the usual pop format! Sammy didn't always get backing this strong – and the album's got Quincy Jones handling the arrangements for Basie in the same mode the he used on the Sinatra/Basie sides for Reprise. Titles include "The Girl From Ipanema", "She's A Woman", "New York City Blues", "Work Song", and "Blues For Mr Charlie" – and the album even features Sammy doing a bit of tap dancing! LP, Vinyl record album

Ray Charles in a nicely maturing mode – on a record from later in his Atlantic Records years, definitely paving the way forward for his 60s classics on ABC! The tunes are blues, but not in the way that Charles first started recording on earlier singles for Atlantic – as there's a bit more class, care, and a strong current of jazz that Ray was bringing more and more to his music as the years went on. Titles include the Charles originals "Hard Times", "I Believe To My Soul", "Mr Charles Blues", "I Wonder Who", "Some Day Baby", and "Nobody Cares" – plus nice takes on "I'm Movin On" and "The Midnight Hour". (Soul, Vocalists) LP, Vinyl record album

An obscure moment in June Christy's career, but a great one too – a rare later recording, done many years after her time at Capitol Records – in a laidback setting with a hip group of west coast players! June's voice definitely shows a bit of age, but she's still head and shoulders above most jazz singers of her generation – mixing subtle feeling and darkness together beautifully, in a way that makes for a wonderfully moody record! Lou Levy leads the group on piano, and other players include Bob Cooper on tenor and flute, Frank Rosolino on trombone, and Jack Sheldon on trumpet – although the horns don't seem to appear on all the tracks on the date. Titles include "The Trouble With Hello Is Goodbye", "My Shining Hour", "Once Upon A Summertime", "Show Me", "Willow Weep For Me", "Everything Must Change", and "Autumn Serenade". LP, Vinyl record album

2 key albums in the early career of Nancy Wilson – back to back on one CD! For Hollywood My Way, Wilson turns her wonderfully sophisticated vocal style towards a batch of hits from Hollywood films of the 40s, 50s, and 60s – arranged and conducted by Jimmy Jones, in that classy blend of jazz and soul that suited Wilson so well in the 60s! The style is really a cut above the usual – handled with great poise by Nancy throughout, but also done in a mode that's relaxed enough to get past some of the stodgier sounds of records like this. The mellower tunes are actually some of the best here – personal, reflective, and echoing the "Guess Who I Saw Today" sound of Wilson in the 60s. Titles include "You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To", "Almost In Your Arms", "When Did You Leave Heaven?", "My Shining Hour", "Days Of Wine & Roses", and "Wild Is The Wind". Broadway My Way is also arranged and conducted by Jimmy Jones – and as usual with Wilson in this sort of setting, the material is really transformed by her presentation – taken way past its roots in popular shows of the time. Titles include "Loads Of Love", "My Ship", "Getting To Know You", "Tonight", "You Can Have Him", and "I Believe In You". 24 tracks in all. CD

An obscure moment in June Christy's career, but a great one too – a rare later recording, done many years after her time at Capitol Records – in a laidback setting with a hip group of west coast players! June's voice definitely shows a bit of age, but she's still head and shoulders above most jazz singers of her generation – mixing subtle feeling and darkness together beautifully, in a way that makes for a wonderfully moody record! Lou Levy leads the group on piano, and other players include Bob Cooper on tenor and flute, Frank Rosolino on trombone, and Jack Sheldon on trumpet – although the horns don't seem to appear on all the tracks on the date. Titles include "The Trouble With Hello Is Goodbye", "My Shining Hour", "Once Upon A Summertime", "Show Me", "Willow Weep For Me", "Everything Must Change", and "Autumn Serenade". CD

A key moment in the career of vocalist Ernestine Anderson – a record that not only returned her to the public eye after a flurry of initial sides in the late 50s and early 60s, but which also finally helped Anderson find a sound that worked! The album's done with backing by the Monty Alexander trio – in a style that's bluesy and soul jazz inflected, but with a sweeter west coast sound – almost an early 80s equivalent of the groove explored by Lou Rawls or Ernie Andrews in LA during the mid 60s, but done with an even more relaxed, jazz-based approach here. The title track – "Never Make Your Move Too Soon" – was an instant standout that got Anderson play in many corners of the US – and other tracks are more familiar numbers, but done in a similar mode – with titles that include "Old Folks", "As Long As I Live", "Just One More Chance", "Poor Butterfly", and "My Shining Hour". CD

A key moment in the career of vocalist Ernestine Anderson – a record that not only returned her to the public eye after a flurry of initial sides in the late 50s and early 60s, but which also finally helped Anderson find a sound that worked! The album's done with backing by the Monty Alexander trio – in a style that's bluesy and soul jazz inflected, but with a sweeter west coast sound – almost an early 80s equivalent of the groove explored by Lou Rawls or Ernie Andrews in LA during the mid 60s, but done with an even more relaxed, jazz-based approach here. The title track – "Never Make Your Move Too Soon" – was an instant standout that got Anderson play in many corners of the US – and other tracks are more familiar numbers, but done in a similar mode – with titles that include "Old Folks", "As Long As I Live", "Just One More Chance", "Poor Butterfly", and "My Shining Hour". LP, Vinyl record album

A sweet little session of 50s vocal jazz – equally great not just for the singing by Joy Byran, but also for the arrangements by pianist Marty Paich! Paich's captured here at a great early point scoring for singers – and he gives Joy the same fluid jazzy approach that he used on the best Bethlehem albums by Mel Torme – a great thing for the singer, as it really makes the album sparkle a bit more than it might on its own. Joy's a pretty decent singer overall – with a range that's surprisingly deep, and a delivery that's best on the lighter, more sprightly tunes on the session – which are the sort that Paich does his best work with. Players include Bob Enevoldsen, Herb Geller, and Jack Sheldon – and titles include "You're My Everything", "My Shining Hour", "Round Midnight", "My Heart Stood Still", "I Could Write A Book", and "What Is There To Say". LP, Vinyl record album

Nancy Wilson turns her wonderfully sophisticated vocal style towards a batch of hits from Hollywood films of the 40s, 50s, and 60s – arranged and conducted by Jimmy Jones, in that classy blend of jazz and soul that suited Wilson so well in the 60s! The style is really a cut above the usual – handled with great poise by Nancy throughout, but also done in a mode that's relaxed enough to get past some of the stodgier sounds of records like this. The mellower tunes are actually some of the best here – personal, reflective, and echoing the "Guess Who I Saw Today" sound of Wilson in the 60s. Titles include "You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To", "Almost In Your Arms", "When Did You Leave Heaven?", "My Shining Hour", "Days Of Wine & Roses", and "Wild Is The Wind". CD features 5 bonus tracks too – "Watch What Happens", "Look Of Love", "Alfie", "More", and "Shadow Of Your Smile". CD

The album that really put Sarah Vaughan on the map – a killer set that really showed how sultry jazz vocals could sound in the postwar years – never overtone, nor torchy-cliched – but right on the money, with a sense of grace and poise that few others can match – even after all these decades! Tracks include "Black Coffee", "After Hours", "Street Of Dreams", "My Reverie", "I Cried For You", "Deep Purple", and "Just Friends". LP, Vinyl record album

Dinah's in a perfect setting here – one that gets more jazz out of her style than other records at the time! The "after hours" setting has Dinah singing with a relaxed jazz combo – one that features Eddie Lockjaw Davis and Paul Quinichette on tenor, Clark Terry on trumpet, and Junior Mance on piano – as well as some other nice touches, like congas from Candido, and a bit of organ work from Jackie Davis! The tunes still have the slightly bluesy feel of Dinah's other work, but are more jazz-based in their phrasing and presentation – and titles include "A Foggy Day", "Bye Bye Blues", "Am I Blue", "Blue Skies", and "Love For Sale". CD features one bonus track – an unedited "Blue Skies", which runs over three minutes longer than the originally released version! CD

Dinah's in a perfect setting here – one that gets more jazz out of her style than other records at the time! The "after hours" setting has Dinah singing with a relaxed jazz combo – one that features Eddie Lockjaw Davis and Paul Quinichette on tenor, Clark Terry on trumpet, and Junior Mance on piano – as well as some other nice touches, like congas from Candido, and a bit of organ work from Jackie Davis! The tunes still have the slightly bluesy feel of Dinah's other work, but are more jazz-based in their phrasing and presentation – and titles include "A Foggy Day", "Bye Bye Blues", "Am I Blue", "Blue Skies", and "Love For Sale". LP, Vinyl record album

The album that really put Sarah Vaughan on the map – a killer set that really showed how sultry jazz vocals could sound in the postwar years – never overtone, nor torchy-cliched – but right on the money, with a sense of grace and poise that few others can match – even after all these decades! Tracks include "Black Coffee", "After Hours", "Street Of Dreams", "My Reverie", "I Cried For You", "Deep Purple", and "Just Friends". CD

A really great album by Billy Eckstine – much more swinging and upbeat than some of his other 50s sessions, and with a strongly pronounced jazz flair overall! The album's supposedly recorded live in Vegas in the wee hours of the morning, and features Billy blowing a bit of trumpet as well as singing – all set to some nicely thumping orchestrations by Bobby Tucker, who really knows how to hit the right groove for this sort of a set. Titles include "Lady Luck", "Have A Song On Me", "Deed I Do", "Without A Song", "Moonlight In Vermont", and "Lush Life". LP, Vinyl record album

A rare Decca album lead by the smoky vocals of Beverly Kenney – a really unique late 50s/early 60s jazz girl who once worked for the Dorsey brothers, the Count Basie Orchestra and others, and only ever cut a handful of albums under her own name! Sings for Playboys is an intimate, sultry batch of tunes that have a really unique feel thanks to the super spare accompaniment of just Ellis Larkins on piano and Joe Benjamin on bass. That approach does a great job of transforming your senses to the smoky, boozy after hours cabaret that must have been in mind when the recordings were conceived. The album only ever appeared briefly in the late 50s (possibly because of the unauthorized and quite obvious reference to Playboy Magazine in the title and in the cover photo) but it's sure great to see it reappear – they didn't make a lot records like this in the big band dominated recordings of the era! 12 tracks including "Do It Again", "A Woman's Intuition", "Mama, Do I Gotta?", "A Lover Like You", "A Summer Romance", "It's Magic", and more. LP, Vinyl record album

A nicely different album than some of Peggy Lee's other albums for Capitol Records – a set of sophisticated arrangements, handled by Quincy Jones – which really give Lee the kind of setting to remind the world that she can be as compelling of a jazz singer as she can a vocalist on upbeat groovers! Jones here is coming off of work by his larger groups of the late 50s, and has a wonderful sense of tone and shading – creating this richness that's as deeply blue as the image on the cover, and which really works on the more melancholy currents that Peggy could hit at the right moments – those qualities that would get explored a bit more in later years, but which really find their way to open up here. The group features nice work from Benny Carter on alto and Victor Feldman on vibes – and there's a sense of loss and longing to the record that almost rivals that on the Sinatra album Wee Small Hours. Titles include "As Time Goes By", "If You Go", "I Wish I Didn't Love You So", "I Get Along Without You Very Well", "When I Was A Child", "Here's That Rainy Day", and "I'm Gonna Laugh You Out Of My Life". LP, Vinyl record album

A beautiful album of dark-hued vocals – sung by Johnny Hartman with a quality that's as smokey as the image of him with a cigarette on the cover! The album set a whole new standard for male vocal jazz in the 60s – and is a distillation and refinement of earlier ideas in music by Billy Eckstine, taken down to more personal and fluid levels by Hartman – and recorded here with great small group baking that includes Illinois Jacquet on tenor, Kenny Burrell on guitar, Milt Hinton on bass, and Elvin Jones on drums. The vibe is very mellow, but never sloppy or sleepy – and titles include "Charade", "In The Wee Small Hours", "Stairway To the Stars", "Kiss & Run", "Our Time", "Don't You Know I Care", "If I'm Lucky", and "Don't Call It Love". CD

A beautiful album of dark-hued vocals – sung by Johnny Hartman with a quality that's as smokey as the image of him with a cigarette on the cover! The album set a whole new standard for male vocal jazz in the 60s – and is a distillation and refinement of earlier ideas in music by Billy Eckstine, taken down to more personal and fluid levels by Hartman – and recorded here with great small group baking that includes Illinois Jacquet on tenor, Kenny Burrell on guitar, Milt Hinton on bass, and Elvin Jones on drums. The vibe is very mellow, but never sloppy or sleepy – and titles include "Charade", "In The Wee Small Hours", "Stairway To the Stars", "Kiss & Run", "Our Time", "Don't You Know I Care", "If I'm Lucky", and "Don't Call It Love". LP, Vinyl record album

2 early albums by the great Shirley Horn – back to back on one CD! On Loads Of Love, Shirley sings some somber ballads over large orchestrations by Jimmy Jones – in a mode that's different from recent work, but which also shows that she's a great singer with a really sensitive style. The groove's not as open as on some of her small combo recordings, but that also brings out a side of Shirley that you don't always hear on record – a committed, honest, slightly sad style that's quite striking, considering that this was one of Shirley's first albums. Titles include "That's No Joke", "Love For Sale", "Ten Cents A Dance", "Who Am I?", "Only The Lonely", and "Wild Is Love". Horn With Horns is hip stuff from Shirley – very mature and swinging jazz, despite any hokiness you might expect from the "with horns" tag. Arrangements are by Quincy Jones, Thad Jones, and Billy Byers – and the set list features some good current numbers, and a bunch of standards, all redone nicely in a 60s sophistijazz style. Tracks include "Wee Small Hours", "That Old Black Magic", "The Great City", "On The Street Where You Live", and "Let Me Love You". CD

2 classic albums of jazz harmony vocals by The Hi Lo's! Love Nest is a warmly romantic set – one that's got the quartet singing with backings by Frank Comstock, one of their best accompanists, on a set of tracks that includes "Fairyland", "Dancing On The Ceiling", "But Beautiful", "Love Nest", and "In The Wee Small Hours". The other album's All Over The Place – a rare gem with jazzy backings by Marty Paich, and a wide range of interesting harmony numbers that include "Bali Hai", "Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square", "April In Fairbanks", "Sand In My Shoes", and "Massachusetts". CD

A beautiful album of dark-hued vocals – sung by Johnny Hartman with a quality that's as smokey as the image of him with a cigarette on the cover! The album set a whole new standard for male vocal jazz in the 60s – and is a distillation and refinement of earlier ideas in music by Billy Eckstine, taken down to more personal and fluid levels by Hartman – and recorded here with great small group baking that includes Illinois Jacquet on tenor, Kenny Burrell on guitar, Milt Hinton on bass, and Elvin Jones on drums. The vibe is very mellow, but never sloppy or sleepy – and titles include "Charade", "In The Wee Small Hours", "Stairway To the Stars", "Kiss & Run", "Our Time", "Don't You Know I Care", "If I'm Lucky", and "Don't Call It Love". CD

Peggy Lee's at Basin Street, but the set's an upbeat, swinging date that's right up there with her studio work for Capitol in the 60s! The album's billed as an "after hours" performance – and it's definitely got the relaxed feel to live up to that promise – a feel that's more small combo jazzy than other Lee work of the period, although it's still got that upbeat punch we love from the Capitol years. The group is directed by Joe Harnell, who also plays piano – and other members include Bob Donovan on flute, Willie Thomas and Phil Sunkel on trumpets, Dennis Budimir on guitar, and Chino Pozo on congas and bongos. Titles inlcude "I Got A Man", "The Second Time Around", "Fever", "Moments Like This", "Day In Day Out", and "Them There Eyes". CD also features a bonus track – "Call Me Darling". LP, Vinyl record album

Peggy Lee's at Basin Street, but the set's an upbeat, swinging date that's right up there with her studio work for Capitol in the 60s! The album's billed as an "after hours" performance – and it's definitely got the relaxed feel to live up to that promise – a feel that's more small combo jazzy than other Lee work of the period, although it's still got that upbeat punch we love from the Capitol years. The group is directed by Joe Harnell, who also plays piano – and other members include Bob Donovan on flute, Willie Thomas and Phil Sunkel on trumpets, Dennis Budimir on guitar, and Chino Pozo on congas and bongos. Titles inlcude "I Got A Man", "The Second Time Around", "Fever", "Moments Like This", "Day In Day Out", and "Them There Eyes". CD also features a bonus track – "Call Me Darling". CD