Great 60s work from Sylvia Syms – and a set that features some excellent guitar work from Kenny Burrell! The set's got a hip small combo feel – like other great Prestige sides from Syms – and it's much groovier and more swinging that some of her other show-ish sort of records – lean vocal jazz with a very mature 60s approach! Burrell's on all numbers, but Bucky Pizzarelli also plays on a few too – and titles include "As Long As I Live", "How Insensitive", "If You Could See Me Now", "More Than You Know", "Meditation", and "Wild Is The Wind". CD

A surprising sort of set, one in which Dee Dee Bridgewater pays tribute to Ella Fitzgerald – a link we might never have expected in her style! Dee Dee's not totally copping Ella here, though – although she does sing a good number of tunes from the Fitzgerald songbook – and as usual for Bridgewater, there's a pretty unique flavor to most of the material, something that comes through strongly with help from arrangers Lou Levy, Slide Hampton, and Cecil Bridgewater! The band's upbeat and groovy on most numbers – and titles include the Kenny Burrell-penned "Dear Ella", done as a duet, plus "How High The Moon", "Mack The Knife", "A Tisket A Tasket", "Midnight Sun", "Undecided", "Oh Lady Be Good", and "If You Can't Sing It You'll Have To Swing It (aka Mr Paganini)". CD

Backings feature Kenny Burrell on guitar, Leo Wright on alto, and Gildo Mahones on piano! Titles include "Mean Old Frisco", "Rocks In My Bed", "Lonely Boy Blues", and "One Scotch One Bourbon One Beer". CD

Features Harry Edison on trumpet, Kenny Burrell on guitar, Wild Bill Davis on organ, and Eddie Costa on vibes. 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

Possibly one of the most essential Billie Holiday albums for Verve – a set that carries the same title as her famous autobiography, and which also features many key numbers from her songbook at the time! The feel here is quite easygoing and relaxed – with small group backing behind Billie's vocals, which themselves are recorded cleanly and clearly throughout. One side features backing by a combo that includes Wynton Kelly on piano, Kenny Burrell on guitar, Charlie Shavers on trumpet, and Paul Quinichette on tenor – and the other features a group that includes Bobby Tucker on piano, Charlie Shavers on trumpet, Barney Kessel on guitar, and the great Willie Smith on alto sax. Titles include plenty of classics – including "God Bless The Child", "Strange Fruit", "Lady Sings The Blues", "No Good Man", "Good Morning Heartache", "I Must Have That Man", and "Trav'lin' Light". CD

The first ever album by Dory Previn – recorded in the late 50s for Verve, as Dory Langdon! Just a year later, Dory would marry composer and pianist Andre Previn, but their professional relationship had already begun, as Andre plays piano here, along with jazz guitar great Kenny Burrell. It's done in an intimate jazzy style that's stylistically a world away form Dory's singer-songwriter records of the 70s, but it's charming, worthy stuff! Titles include "Can't We Be Enemies", "Lonely Girl In London", "Leprechauns Are Upon Me", "Carefree Love", "No", "Sea Shells", "Gooney Bird", "Just For Now", "Forget Me" and more. CD

One of the rare few records recorded by a young Andy Bey and his sisters! The group was an obscure jazz harmony trio formed by Andy in his earlier years – and it features him on piano, joining with the vocals of his two sisters Salome and Geradine Bey – in a soulful, moody style that's unlike anything else we can think of! Their three heavenly voices are backed by Kenny Burrell's guitar, Milt Hinton's bass, and Osie Johnson's drums, and there's lots of room around the arrangments for the Beys to stretch out and sing beautifully. Includes a haunting arrangment of "Round Midnight", plus "God Bless The Child", "Everytime We Say Goodbye", "Solitude", and the "Love Medley". CD

A very unusual concert from Billie Holiday – one that features narration by Gilbert Millstein, telling the story of Billie's life! The format is quite unusual – almost a live documentary, with the subject of the documentary there in person herself! Millstein narrates from the start, and Billie emerges with songs throughout – using Millstein's narration to bracket portions of her career, then delivering the tunes associated with that portion. Backing is by an all-hip group that includes Coleman Hawkins, Kenny Burrell, Chico Hamilton, Roy Eldridge, and Buck Clayton – and titles include "I Cried For You", "My Man", "Don't Explain", "Lady Sings The Blues", "Body & Soul", "I Love My Man", and "Yesterdays". CD

A lost gem from Etta's early 60s years on Prestige – an album that has her singing with three different groups on the session, but coming out on top every time! The format's actually a good one – not nearly as schizophrenic as you might think – as Prestige pairs Etta with a range of some of their best players of the time, including Lem Winchester on vibes, Jerome Richardson and Oliver Nelson on tenor sax, Wally Richardson and Kenny Burrell on guitar, and Richard Wyands on piano. All tracks have a laidback, late nite soul jazz feel – and Etta sings beautifully on titles that include "Give Me The Simple Life", "The More I See You", "Reverse The Charges", "Looking Back", and a great Latin take on "Nature Boy". CD

The first Riverside album by Bev Kelly – an obscure ice-blond singer from the late 50s, with a sound that's much more in keeping with some of the vocalists on the Bethlehem label, than the few singers who cut sides for Riverside. Bev's got the great fortune to be working here with Jimmy Jones, who's done some great work for Sarah Vaughn over the years – and the small group backing on the album includes strong players like Kenny Burrell, Jerome Richardson, Milt Hinton, Roy Haynes, and Jones himself. Titles include "My Ship", "Lonelyville", "Lost April", "Love Look Away", "Thursday's Child", "Love Locked Out", and "Gloomy Sunday". A nice sad one – in case you couldn't guess by the titles! CD

The title's an apt one, because Billie Poole sings here in a mode that's steeped in styles borrowed strongly from gospel and blues – but delivered more in a jazz-based mode overall! The backing here is one aspect that makes the record especially strong – a quartet with Kenny Burrell on guitar, Junior Mance on piano, Bob Cranshaw on bass, and Mickey Roker on drums – all grooving in a rollicking 60s soul jazz way that brings more life into Billie's music than it might otherwise have, ensuring that most numbers stay away from cliche. Titles include "Them Blues", "I Worry Bout You", "When Your Well Runs Dry", "Ain't That Love", "The Man That Got Away", and "Jailhouse Blues". CD

With Clifford Jordan on tenor sax, Art Farmer on flugelhorn, Kenny Barron on piano, and Kenny Burrell on guitar! CD

Music from Mel Torme, Jimmy Smith, Kenny Burrell, Bud Powell, Ben Webster, Fred Astaire, Stan Getz, Bill Evans, Tal Farlow, Coleman Hawkins, and more. (Jazz, Vocalists) 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

A bit of blues, and a bit of jazz – in that sweet style that Jimmy was handling so well on his 60s recordings for Prestige. Backing is by a small combo that includes Gildo Mahones on piano, Kenny Burrell on guitar, and Roy Haynes on drums – and titles include "The Time Has Come", "I'll Never Be Free", "I Wonder", "It's All In The Game", and "Blues In The Morning". (Blues, Vocalists) CD