Vocals by Julie Tippett, Martin Archer on keyboards, electronics and woodwinds and Peter Fairclough on drums with Micheal Somerset Ward on flutes, sax and sea flute. (Jazz, Vocalists) CD

One of the rarest Lee Hazlewood albums ever – a mid 70s set recorded for Polydor in Sweden, and one that represents a really unique chapter in Lee's career overseas! At times, the album's got a very strong country feel – more so than even other Hazlewood records, which always had a bit of twang – yet at other points, the record moves into more familiar vocal work – recalling some of the modes that Lee had laid down on his best work of the late 60s. Not all songs are originals, but Lee definitely makes all the music his own – and the arrangements by David Whitaker and Lars Samuelson move around in good ways to match the spirit of Hazlewood's mood on each tune. This reissue features some really great notes – filled with the kind of personal recollections that make Lee's life seem like it was always a blast to live – and titles include "The Rising Star", "Come On Home To Me", "It's For My Dad", "Paris Bells", "Hello Saturday Morning", "Wait Till Next Year", "LA Lady", "I've Got To Be Moving", "Mother Country Music", and a great version of "It Was A Very Good Year". CD

A rare second meeting between Lee Hazlewood and Nancy Sinatra – recorded for RCA a few years after their initial outing for Reprise, and done with a style that's even moodier than the first! Given that Nancy's less of a star at this point, Lee really dominates the album – and casts Sinatra in a space that's filled with his own dark themes of loneliness, pride, responsibility, and forbidden adult love. Backings are rich and large, but the voices are always upfront in the mix – and arrangers Larry Muhoberac and Clark Gassman really do a great job of getting the Hazlewood vision down perfectly. Most of the tracks are originals, and titles include "Got It Together", "Back On The Road", "Arkansas Coal Suite", "Congratulations", "Paris Summer", "Friendship Train", and "Tippy Toes". Also features two great bonus tracks – "Machine Gun Kelly" and "Think I'm Coming Down". LP, Vinyl record album

The great Georgie Fame hardly sounds wounded here – as the singer's in the middle of a great return to form in the 90s – a decade that saw him cutting some tremendous albums like this! Fame's in his home turf of London – working with a small combo at Ronnie Scott's, and turning in songs that have a perfect blend of blues and soul roots mixed with Georgie's unique jazzy inflections – at a level that's even more sophisticated than his work in the early days! The group is great too – with Anthony Kerr on vibes, Guy Barker on trumpet, Alan Skidmore on tenor, and Peter King on alto – and Fame sings tracks that include "Cape Cuckoo", "If You Live", "Eros Hotel", "Abide With Me", "The Woodshed", "Zavolo", and "It Happened To Me/My Buddy". CD

A rare second meeting between Lee Hazlewood and Nancy Sinatra – recorded for RCA a few years after their initial outing for Reprise, and done with a style that's even moodier than the first! Given that Nancy's less of a star at this point, Lee really dominates the album – and casts Sinatra in a space that's filled with his own dark themes of loneliness, pride, responsibility, and forbidden adult love. Backings are rich and large, but the voices are always upfront in the mix – and arrangers Larry Muhoberac and Clark Gassman really do a great job of getting the Hazlewood vision down perfectly. Most of the tracks are originals, and titles include "Got It Together", "Back On The Road", "Arkansas Coal Suite", "Congratulations", "Paris Summer", "Friendship Train", and "Tippy Toes". Also features two great bonus tracks – "Machine Gun Kelly" and "Think I'm Coming Down". LP, Vinyl record album

Includes 43 tracks on 2 CDs and features work with Louis Jordan, Louis Armstrong, the Ink Spots, and Eddie Heywood. CD

Arguably one of the greatest albums ever cut by Jimmy Witherspoon – recorded live at an early Monterey Jazz Festival, and done in a style that shows the strong link between jazz and blues in Jimmy's work! The group on the set includes Ben Webster, Roy Eldridge, Coleman Hawkins, and Woody Herman – and the longish tracks on the set give them all more than enough room to solo alongside Jimmy's bluesy vocals. The album's also one of the first to be produced by a young David Axelrod – and shows a clear respect for both the singer and the musicians, in a combination that would come out even more strongly on Axe's later productions for Capitol. Titles include "No Rollin Blues", "Big Fine Girl", "Good Rockin Tonight", "Ain't Nobody's Business", and "When I Been Drinkin". LP, Vinyl record album

Georgie Fame really sounds wonderful here – stepping out in a straight jazz mode, with the promised blues currents at the bottom – in a vibe that takes us back to his early work in the 60s! Ben Sidran produced the set, and also plays piano – with an all-star group that includes Mike Mainieri in vobes, Phil Woods and Pete King on alto, Stanley Turrentine and Bob Malach on tenor, Ronnie Cuber on baritone, and Grady Tate on drums! All that top-shelf jazz talent really makes the album sparkle – but, as always, it's Georgie and his wonderfully-inflected vocals that really hold the charm for the whole set – a voice that we'd rank right up there with Jon Hendricks or Mose Allison for sheer inventiveness and individuality. Titles include "The Woodshed", "The Blues & Me", "Maybe It's Because Of Love", "Roll With My Baby", "How Long Has This Been Going On", and "Pass Me By". CD

Features Bill Charlap on piano, Michael Moore on bass, Ron Vincent on drums, and special guest Phil Woods on alto sax CD

With Gerry Wiggins on piano, Ron Eschete on guitar, Andy Simpkins on bass, Paul Humphrey on drums, Harry Sweets Edison on trumpet, and Rickey Woodard on saxophone. CD

Beautiful stuff – and a great CD that brings together 2 of Chris Connor's best jazz albums for Atlantic! Just about all of Chris' records are great, but on both of these she really hits her stride – working in the small combo setting that she first recorded with, singing to sensitive backing by players like Lucky Thompson, Mundell Lowe, Oscar Pettiford, Joe Puma, and Al Cohn. Arrangements on A Jazz Date are by Ralph Sharon, and those on Chris Craft are by Stan Free – and they both work perfectly to bring out the best of Chris' icy cool vocals! 24 cuts in all, including "The Night We Called It A Day", "Lover Man", "Be My All", "Here Lies Love", "Moon Ray", "All I Need Is You", "Driftwood", and "Lonely Town". CD

The second album by this excellent all-female San Francisco jazz combo – a live date that's even more cooking than their debut! As before, there's a sweetly breezy style to the record – that hip SF sound of the 70s – with echoes of Braziliana and soul amidst the group's jazzier leanings – all wrapped together with a sound that's tight, but never uptight! The female vocals give the music a feel that's like Janet Lawson, Sheila Landis, or some of the hipper European singers of the 70s – and instrumentation is mostly acoustic, save for a bit of Fender Rhodes. Titles include a version of Gil Scott-Heron's "Willing", plus "Greeting Song", "Call It Jazz", "Too Bad", "Golden River/Golden Dream", and "Heaven Is In Your Mind". CD

The great Mark Murphy works here with key members of the Clarke Boland Big Band – in a sweet small combo mode that makes for one of the hippest albums the singer ever recorded! "Sconsolato" is this wonderful tune written by bassist Jimmy Woode – and Mark takes the tune at a nicely easy clip, with well-inflected vocals that open the song up beautifully! "Just Give Me Time" is a fantastic jazz dance number – great on the vocal tip, but made even better by work from Sahib Shihab on baritone, Ronnie Scott on tenor, and Jimmy Deuchar on trumpet! (Funky 45's, Vocalists) 7-inch, Vinyl record

A full CD that compiles Billie's famous sides for the Commodore label in New York – recorded between 1939 and 1944, with accompaniment by the Eddy Heywood group and/or orchestra. Titles include "Strange Fruit" (the original 1939 version), "How Am I To Know", "Fine & Mellow", "I'll Get By", "My Old Flame", "Lover Come Back To Me", "As Time Goes By", and "I Cover The Waterfront". You can't get any more classic than this! CD

It's late in the career of Jackie & Roy, but the pair haven't faltered a bit – working here on two different mid 80s albums that are both surprisingly great! Bogie is a live set from 1986 – a dozen songs dedicated to Humphrey Bogart, either from his films, or written in honor of them – performed by Jackie & Roy in a style that's without schmaltz or hoke – and which features some great lyrical twists that are very much in the "smart" Hollywood mode of the postwar years, which was fading strongly by the time of this session. Full Circle is a more straight ahead session – but equally great – with a larger group that includes Conte Candoli, Bill Watrous, Bill Perkins, and Bob Cooper, all of whom give the best tracks a swinging west coast groove. Titles include "Am I Blue", "Bogie", "As Time Goes By", "Sleigh Ride In July", "Never In A Single Year", "Full Circle", and "Line For Lyons". CD

Though one of her groovy Hazlewood produced albums, she only does two Hazlewood-penned tunes on this one: "Coastin", and "Sugar Town". The rest of the songs are the old-timey standards like "Sweet Georgia Brown", "Vagabond Shoes", "Let's Fall In Love", "Oh! You Beautiful Doll" and "Hard Hearted Hannah", though you might not guess that from the hot front cover featuring Nancy posing in a mod pink bikini. LP, Vinyl record album

Features James Moody, Bobby Watson, Clark Terry, Phil Woods, Kenny Barron, and Harry 'Sweets' Edison CD