A fantastic shift in the sound of the Supersax ensemble – one that has the group's jazzy instrumentation mixed with a vocal chorus – in a way that's a bit similar to some of the best Singers Unlimited albums for MPS in the 70s! The title, cover, and group's name might make you think the whole thing's a bit cheesy – but it's not, and the presentation is wonderful – thanks to strong work on saxes from west coast legends like Med Flory, Lanny Morgan, Jay Miglori, and Jack Nimitz – plus work from other group members who include Conte Candoli on trumpet, Lou Levy on piano, and Monty Budwig on bass – all strong LA jazz musicians with a legacy that goes back to the 50s! The vocal group's a quartet, with the lovely Sue Raney in the lead – a singer that we loved on her 50s and 60s recordings for Capitol, and who here re-emerges with a new sophisticated vibe that's wonderful. Titles include "He Ain't Got Rhythm", "Skylark", "Speak Low", "They Can't Take That Away From Me", "Bloomdido", and the Med Flory composed "Out The Window" and "Bossa No No". (Jazz, Vocalists) LP, Vinyl record album

A totally wonderful little record that's every bit as sexy as you might guess from the cover – and which also has some of the groovy French elements you might expect from the title! The set's got this slinky, erotic vibe that's almost in Serge Gainsbourg territory – save for the fact that the tunes are mostly instrumental, and Monica Lassen seems mostly on the set to moan, giggle, and make other expressions of pleasure as the set goes on – a bit like the presence of a woman on a sexy French record at the end of the 60s! The music is very cool, too – somewhere in a space between late 60s European soundtrack modes and bossa nova – with lots of cool organ lines, soulful sax, captivating rhythms, and cool effects that further underscore the sound of the set – on titles that include "Dalliance In Wave", "On Rollin Yacht", "A Lodge Of Joy", "Embrace Ment", "Path For Two", and "Che Vuole Quesat Musica Stasere". LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

One of Blossom Dearie's fantastic albums for Verve – all of which stand as some of the best recorded work she ever did! The album features Blossom in a warm intimate group, which gives great focus to her endearing voice, and lively piano. She's backed by Ray Brown and Herb Ellis, and she sings some nice groovy numbers that hearken back to her days in France – including "The Riviera", "Plus Je T'Embrasse", and "Give Him The Ooh-La-La". Nice stuff, and with a groovy cover to boot! LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

A key moment in the career of Esther Phillips – and a record that really has her shaking off the rougher bluesy styles of the earlier years, and pointing the way towards strong jazz success in the 70s! The album's definitely burnin, but with a sophisticated vibe too – as Esther works with backing from a small combo that includes Jack Wilson on piano, Richard Tee on organ, Chuck Rainey on bass, and Cornell Dupree on guitar – a lineup that almost hits the same vibe as her later work on CTI/Kudu – and which brings out a new depth in Esther's vocals that's simply amazing! There's a heartbreaking quality to most of the numbers – a mix of roots and class, depth and poise – all served up in a style that's unlike any other singer before or since. Titles include "Don't Let Me Lose This Dream", "And I Love Him", "Shangri-La", "I'm Getting Long Alright", and "Please Send Me Someone To Love". (Soul, Vocalists) LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

(French, Vocalists) LP, Vinyl record album

Bossa with a great American twist! Nancy Ames was an American pop singer of the 60s – one who did mostly folksy tunes with a light California feel, and who here is coming up with some great bossa nova numbers, set to arrangements by Stu Phillips! The package has all the sunniness of a summer LA afternoon at the beach – with the driving groove of a pop bossa session from Rio. The album's perennial favorite is Nancy's remake of "Mas Que Nada" (done here as "Pow Pow Pow") – but there's loads of other wonderful numbers, and the whole album's great! Titles include "Laia La Daia", "Love's Like Wine", "So Nice", and "A Man & A Woman". As the song says – Pow Pow Pow! Her greatest LP by a mile, too! LP, Vinyl record album

One of Chet Baker's most classic albums of the 50s – a record that features both vocals and strong trumpet solos – all from a time when Baker was one of the hottest things going in jazz! The album's different from records from previous years, in that it moves Baker from LA to New York – where he works with a great quartet that features Kenny Drew on piano, George Morrow or Sam Jones on bass, and Philly Joe Jones or Danny Richmond on drums – all players who have a slightly different approach than some of Baker's compatriots on Pacific Jazz sessions, which also seems to bring out a bit more bite in Chet too. Tracks are still shortish, with those breathy Baker vocals we love so much, balanced with really well-crafted trumpet solos – and titles include "It Could Happen To You", "Do It The Hard Way", "Old Devil Moon", "Dancing On The Ceiling", and "The More I See You". (Jazz, Vocalists) LP, Vinyl record album

Rare Belgian avant jazz from the start of the 70s – and material that has the same sort of freewheeling, openly creative vibe of some of our favorite French work from the time! The style here isn't as sharp-edged as German work of the period – and has a creative warmth that's really great – swinging and rhythmic at most points, yet relatively open and very different than jazz of the decade before – with occasional vocals from a lovely female singer who has a breezy way of moving with the grooves, almost in a style that recalls Blossom Dearie, but in French – served up in a lineup that also includes some great Fender Rhodes, vibes, and guitar. Titles include "Achille", "L'Admirable Amas Cellulaire Orange", "Fanfan La Tulipe", and "La Partie D'Echecs". (Jazz, Vocalists) LP, Vinyl record album

A great collection of bop sides from 40s LA – tracks that ostensibly feature Cole on piano, jamming with Lester Young on tenor and Red Callender on bass! Oddly, no other players are listed in the notes – even though there's clearly a drummer and trumpeter on the session – so it's a bit hard to date the material, or figure out the actual source of the work. But we can say that Young's tone alone is more than worth the price of admission – beautifully firm and strong – blown in a way that rivals his best early performances for Verve, but perhaps even with a bit more grit and soul. Titles include "SM Blues", "Jammin With Lester", "Can't Get Started", "Body & Soul", and "Indiana". (Jazz, Vocalists) 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

There was never anyone like Lee Hazlewood – and this album is a true testament to his genius! He's the kind of guy you think you've got figured out when you first look at him – but the more you listen to his music, the more you want to raise him above all of the other hip singer/songwriters he seems to be like (Gram Parsons, Leonard Cohen, etc). At heart, Lee was a Cowboy – much more so than any of those fake LA "desperadoes" of the Sunset rock years – and this album, recorded as part of the enigmatic film A Cowboy In Sweden, is true testament to Lee's incredible ability to be both totally serious about his image, yet still maintain a sense of wit and distance that makes him incredibly hard to pin down, genre-wise. He's the country singer Scott Walker always wanted to be, and he's got a pop genius that Leonard Cohen painfully tried to reach in his later years. Brilliant! Filled with beautiful titles like "Forget Marie", "Pray Them Bars Away", "Easy & Me", "No Train To Stockholm", and "The Night Before" – one that you won't forget for a long time! This rare deluxe version features a bonus album of unreleased tracks – outtakes, demos, and instrumentals! LP, Vinyl record album

One of the grooviest records ever by the wonderful vocal team of Jackie & Roy – a sweetly swinging 50s session, with great LA jazz backings from the orchestra of Bill Holman! There's a breezy vibe to the whole thing that's years ahead of its time – not pop harmony vocals, but an approach that's strongly rooted in jazz, but also loosened up from the strict vocalese of the bop singers too. The cover's got Jackie & Roy playing on a slide at the sea – and that free and easy image certainly sums up the feel of the music – a lightly playful blend of jazz vocalese, ballads, and strong duet numbers, all sung with the usual Jackie & Roy charm. The set includes some great tunes, too – including "Pent Up House", "Free & Easy", "So It's Spring", and "Aren't You Glad You're You". LP, Vinyl record album

A damn great little record – a small label indie side, but a set that had an unusually strong influence on vocal jazz in the 60s – really setting a new standard for the generation to come! Marv swings things with a hip, sophisticated style – shaking off some of the excesses of the Billy Eckstine generation, going for the leaner modes of the Frank Minion set – and coming up with some groovy tunes that really sparkle in his hands! Marvin plays piano and celeste, and the set also features organ from Charles Kynard and Groove Holmes, flute and tenor from Buddy Collette and Clifford Scott, trumpet from Carmell Jones, and guitar from Hank Crawford – about as hip a backing group as you could hope to pull from the LA scene! The set includes the killer "Big City" – penned and sung by Jenkins, but covered by plenty of others – plus "Chicago", "Small Town", "City Blues", "Visit Me Today", and "I'm Always Drunk In San Francisco". LP, Vinyl record album

A record that's sometimes overlooked in the career of the legendary Eartha Kitt – a set that came out on MGM in the early 60s, after Kitt's initial rise to fame on RCA, and before taking off for a long stretch overseas! The set hints at the sound of that era a bit – and arrangements by Billy May and Bill Loose have this gently sophisticated style that fits the growing sophistication in Kitt's phrasing as she really develops her style. Songs follow the themes of her famous work – and titles include "Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend", "Good Little Girls", "Never On Sunday", "Always True To You In My Fashion", "La Dolce Vita", "All I Want Is All There Is & Then Some", and "It's So Nice To Have A Man Around The House". LP, Vinyl record album

A pretty weird one! Vicky Lane's always been one of the more dramatic singers from RCA's 50s gal catalog – and she's working here with LA jazzer Pete Condoli, who conducts a small jazz combo with lots of added percussion! The style's halfway between straight vocals and hi-fi type numbers with lots of added instrumental twists – and players on the set include Barney Kessel, Jimmy Rowles, Alvin Stoller, and Joe Mondragon, plus percussionists Milt Holland, Gene Estes, Larry Bunker, and Lou Singer. Tracks include "I Love You", "My Heart Stood Still", "My Romance", "Our Very Own", "The Trolley Song", "The Song Is You", and "Love Isn't Born". LP, Vinyl record album

French pop meets LA production – and the result is some of the best work ever recorded by A&M Records – a gently groovy, slightly sexy sound that really helped define the label in its early years! Claudine Longet's got a gentle Parisian style of singing that's perfect, simply perfect, on this first LP – set to lightly groovy arrangements by the great Nick DeCaro, gliding through a host of tunes that encompasses some of the grooviest hits of the decade – from soundtrack numbers to bossa tunes to familiar numbers that sparkle anew with Claudine's brilliance! Titles include "A Man and A Woman", "Wanderlove", "Meditation", "My Guy", "Sunrise Sunset", "A Felicidade", and "Hello Hello". LP, Vinyl record album

An early vocal set from Les McCann – quite unusual, and pretty darn soulful as well! The album's done in a mode that foreshadows Les' move to soul during the 70s, and features him singing to some hip arrangements by Gerald Wilson – in a soulful, jazzy style that was common for LA of the mid 60s – somewhere in a space between Lou Rawls and Arthur Prysock – with all the hip, adult aspects you'd expect from those references! Tunes include a fair bit of standards, but swung in really fresh ways by Wilson – and McCann's got this restrained style of singing that's really great – almost as if he's hiding a broken heart beneath his groove. Tracks include "It's Way Past Suppertime", "Next Spring", "Bye Bye Black Bird", "Deed I Do", "I Cried for You", and "Wonder Why". (Jazz, Vocalists) LP, Vinyl record album

Dreamy bossa pop from the A&M studios of the 60s – the Brasil 66 sound at its best! The style here is a perfect blend of real Brazilian influences and some of the hipper styles bubbling in the LA studio scene of the time – all locked together perfectly by Sergio Mendes, in the twin-voiced style that let Brasil 66 transform any tune they could get their hands on! There's some really great numbers here of Brazilian origin – including Joao Donato's "The Frog", Marcos Valle's "Batucada", and Gilberto Gil's "Roda" – not to mention Sergio's own "Look Around", which is an especially charming number! Other titles include "The Look Of Love", "Pradizer Adeus", and "Like A Lover". (Brazil, Vocalists) LP, Vinyl record album

Totally great work from one of the grooviest singers of the 60s and 70s – and on our shores, one of the most overlooked as well! Claude Nougaro has a style that's rooted in jazz, but picks up on influences from Brazilian music and other styles – with a real knack for setting fresh Lyrics to tunes, and creating some great originals of his own! His work of the 60s is already pretty darn groovy – and as the years move on, he just gets hipper – working with jazz talents like Michel Legrand, Maurice Vander, and Aldo Romano. This set brings together great tracks from these key years – and includes new versions of "Work Song" and "The Cat" – plus his wonderful re-reading of "O Que Sera", and the cuts "Rimes", "Le Cinema", "Le Jazz Et La Java", "Cecile Ma Fille", "Armstrong", "La Pluie Fait Des Claquettes", and "Toulouse". (French, Vocalists) LP, Vinyl record album

An obscure pre-Mode date from vocalist Lucy Ann Polk – and a set that's got a wonderful LA 50s feel! Backings here are by the Dave Pell Octet – with Pell on tenor, Ronny Lang on alto, Don Fagerquist on trumpet, and Claude Williamson on piano – and arrangements are by Wes Hensel and Shorty Rogers, nice and jazzy throughout! Lucy's approach to the tunes is light and lovely, but she also burns with a bit of a deeper fire at times too – a bluer tone underneath the charm up top. Titles include "But Beautiful", "Imagination", "It Could Happen To You", "It's Always You", and "Darn That Dream". LP, Vinyl record album

A later album from the great Louis Prima – issued on his own label, located in Vegas – with titles that include "Baciagaloop", "Please No Squeeza Da Banana", "Mari Yootch", "Che La Luna", "Mama", and "Josephina". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the nice moments from the days when David Axelrod was producing Lou Rawls! The record's a great mix of soul and tight LA production, and features the breakbeat cut "Fa Fa Fa Fa Fa (Sad Song)". Other nice ones include "Season Of The Witch", "It's You", "I Love You, Yes I Do", and "Trying Just As Hard As I Can". (Soul, Vocalists) LP, Vinyl record album