A really fantastic album from the young Blossom Dearie – and in a way, a record that kind of sets the tone for all the greatness to come in future recordings! Here, Blossom is already breaking from standard jazz vocal modes – using some of the hipness she'd picked up in France to really further the amazing sense of phrasing that makes her so different from just about anyone else – in a way that's subtle, but which really sounds a heck of a lot different than Verve recordings by artists like Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, or any other of their vocalists of the 50s. The group's a small one, but has a fresh sense of arrangement – as Dearie's piano is at the lead of a combo that features Mundell Lowe on guitar, Ray Brown on bass, and Ed Thigpen on drums – all hip enough players to really get her sense of rhythm and timing. Titles include a sublime early version of "Once Upon A Summertime" – plus "Moonlight Saving Time", "Doop Doo De Doop (A Doodlin Song)", "It Amazes Me", "We're Together", "Love Is Here To Stay", "Teach Me Tonight", and "Down With Love". LP, Vinyl record album