A rare Japanese-only session – one that has vocalist Salena Jones joining the fusion supergroup Stuff – in a set that's easily one of the most soulful outings from both artists involved! Although Jones mostly worked overseas, she's got a slinky style here that really fits the groove of the American group – a slow-stepping approach that wraps nicely around keyboards from Richard Tee, and twin guitars from Eric Gale and Cornell Dupree. Steve Gadd's drums keep a nice undercurrent of funk, even when things are mellow – and Tee's arrangements are tight, but never slick or overdone. Titles include "Loving Arms", "My Love", "Everyday", "Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me", "Help Me Make It Through The Night", and "Lately". CD

Music from Louis Armstrong, Nina Simone, Bobby Short, Sarah Vaughan, Joe Williams, Gloria Lynne, Arthur Prysock, Nancy Wilson, Nat King Cole, Della Reese, and more - 18 songs in all. CD

A pair of later jazzy vocal LP gems by Teresa Brewer, both backed by jazz greats – Songs Of Bessie Smith with Count Basie and Thad Jones, and It Don't Mean A Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing with Duke Ellington – both released by Flying Dutchman in 1973! Teresa's popularity peaked a couple decades earlier as a girlish pop singer, and she succeeds strongly on both records – not just because of the jazz heavies in the band, but because she has the pipes and genuine affection for the material to pull it off. It's lovely stuff! Songs Of Bessie Smith have the bluesy overtones necessary to make it work, without trying the hide Teresa's naturally softer approach. Basie on piano throughout, with arrangements by Jones, and a great big band on half and more intimate arrangements on the other half. It Don't Mean A Thing. . .works just as wel, with Duke Ellington and Ernie Wilkins arrangements, and great Flying Dutchman players that include Bernard Purdie, Joe Beck and Mtume. 20 tracks in all, including "Trombone Cholly", "Gmme A Pigfoot", "I Ain't Got Nobody", "St Louis Blues", "I Ain't Got Nothing But The Blues", "Mood Indigo", "I'm Beginning To See The Light", "I've Got To Be A Rug Cutter", "Tulip Or Turnip", "I'ts Kinda Lonesome Out Tonight" and more. CD

One of Oscar Brown's great ones, recorded live at the Cellar Door in Washington before an enthusiastic crowd of hipsters! The record's a beautiful mix of soul, jazz, and folk – in the same Chicago tradition that spawned Terry Callier (although Brown's style has a bit more of a "show" feel to it). There's a lot of great stuff on here, and most of it doesn't appear on Oscar's other albums in studio versions. Tracks include "Call of the City", "Muffled Drums", "Maxine", "Brother Where Are You?", and more! Backing's by a tight little combo that includes Floyd Morris and Phil Upchurch – and this CD has a very groovy little gatefold package! CD

A great early album by Oscar – one that focuses on his own compositions, and a few other hip tunes written by other jazz players, with new vocals added by Oscar! These kind of tracks are the stuff that made him a legend instantly – strongly voiced vocal tunes, handled with a flair that few other singers could match, save for Jon Hendricks, who also shared Oscar's talent for crafting a jazz-based lyric. Arrangements are by Oscar's hometown talent Floyd Morris – and titles include "One Foot In the Gutter", "The Snake" (later covered by Al Wilson), "So Help Me (A Little 3/4 For God & Co)", "The Tree & Me", and marvelous lyrical versions of Miles Davis' "All Blues" and Duke Pearson's "Jeanine". Essential stuff for jazz juice fans! LP, Vinyl record album

Possibly the greatest album ever by the legendary Chicago soul singer Terry Callier! Terry's rich mellow voice is mixed with superb arrangements from the Cadet studio team, with Charles Stepney at the head, and the result is completely sublime. The songs are longer than on earlier albums – and spun out with a complex groove that mixes equal parts of jazz, folk, and soul with the soaring spiritual vibe that was running through the Chicago scene at the time. The first side alone is the stuff that legends are made of – with classic tracks like "Dancing Girl", "What Color is Love", and "You Goin' Miss Your Candyman" all in a row, sewn together in a wash of love, soul, and emotion that you'd be hard pressed to find on any other album from the time. Other tracks include "I'd Rather Be With You", "Just As Long As We're In Love", and "You Don't Care" – and the whole album's a masterpiece beyond compare! (Soul, Vocalists) CD

Sublime stuff! Sure, it's easy to sit back and say that you don't really dig Ray Charles albums that mix together country music and soul, and that you prefer his hard raw raunchy Atlantic recordings from the earlier days. But let's be honest, Ray really made his biggest splash with this stuff – and although it became extremely popular over the years, it's also part of a huge country soul tradition that's a very accurate representation of the rich crossover culture going on in southern soul, a tradition that for some reason always gets underplayed by folks who want to carve up the world in easy racial lines. Truth is, Ray was not the only soul artist to embrace country, and we can think of a host of others – including Solomon Burke, Ivory Joe Hunter, Joe Simon, Clarence Carter, Brook Benton, and Bobby Womack who all participated in this rich tradition. This set's essential if you're interested in checking out this side of Ray's career – and the price is pretty nice, considering that you get 4CDs, a great book, and 92 songs in all! Work is pulled from Ray's classic ABC sides in the format, plus others from before and after that generation. Titles include "A Born Loser", "I'm Movin On", "Busted", "Crying Time", "Teardrops In My Heart", "Half As Much", "No Letter Today", "Oh Lonesome Me", "Ring Of Fire", "What Am I Living For", "Let Your Love Flow", "Down In The Valley", and "Take These Chains From My Heart". (Soul, Vocalists) CD

From its booze-soaked title cut, to its haunting selection of lonely ballads like "Midnight Sun" and "Stranger Called The Blues", this is one of the most fantastic vocal jazz albums of all time – and a record that we'd recommend instantly to anyone! June Christy has an incredibly icy tone on the record, filled with sorrow, regret, and loneliness – all of which are amplified even more deeply by Pete Rugolo's eerie, off-kilter arrangements. Titles include "Something Cool", "It Could Happen To You", "Lonely House", "I'm Thrilled", and "The Night We Called It A Day". Fantastic stuff! Stereo re-recording of the full LP – from the late 50s. LP, Vinyl record album

From its booze-soaked title cut, to its haunting selection of lonely ballads like "Midnight Sun" and "Stranger Called The Blues", this is one of the most fantastic vocal jazz albums of all time – and a record that we'd recommend instantly to anyone! June Christy has an incredibly icy tone on the record, filled with sorrow, regret, and loneliness – all of which are amplified even more deeply by Pete Rugolo's eerie, off-kilter arrangements. Titles include "Something Cool", "It Could Happen To You", "Lonely House", "I'm Thrilled", and "The Night We Called It A Day". Fantastic stuff! Original Mono recording – from 1953. LP, Vinyl record album

One of her great ones, with moody dark arrangements by Pete Rugolo, and some fantastic stuff like "Whee Baby", "Look Up Out There", and "Kicks". Tight west coast backing, some of her best vocals, and a great purple striped cover too! LP, Vinyl record album

Fantastic stuff, and proof that Rosemary Clooney was always one heck of a great singer – with strengths in jazz that you didn't always hear in her pop work! As you'd guess from the cover, Duke Ellington's leading the group on the album – and most of the tracks here are older Ellington standards, reworked with bold vocal lines from Clooney – in a way that's right up there with any of the usual singers with Ellington's band! Players include Clark Terry, Cat Anderson, Johnny Hodges, Paul Gonsalves, and Harry Carney – and titles include "I'm Checkin Out", "Mood Indigo", "Blue Rose", "Grievin", "Hey Baby", and "Passion Flower". LP, Vinyl record album

Fantastic stuff, and proof that Rosemary Clooney was always one heck of a great singer – with strengths in jazz that you didn't always hear in her pop work! As you'd guess from the cover, Duke Ellington's leading the group on the album – and most of the tracks here are older Ellington standards, reworked with bold vocal lines from Clooney – in a way that's right up there with any of the usual singers with Ellington's band! Players include Clark Terry, Cat Anderson, Johnny Hodges, Paul Gonsalves, and Harry Carney – and titles include "I'm Checkin Out", "Mood Indigo", "Blue Rose", "Grieving", "Hey Baby", and "Passion Flower". CD features 2 bonus tracks – "If You Were In My Place" and "Just A Sittin & A Rockin". 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

Great stuff – one of the amazing early albums from the team of Julie Driscoll and Brian Auger – kind of a next-generation to the Brit beat group sound of the mid 60s – one that moves beyond simple R&B modes, to bring in more sophisticated soul and jazz touches! Driscoll's vocals are amazing – some of the boldest belted out in the British scene at the time – and Auger's Hammond work really cooks throughout – at a level that easily makes him one of the best UK organists to hit the scene, amidst some very heady company in the 60s. There's a few bluesy moments, but our favorites are the funky ones – especially the group's reading of "Season Of The Witch", which is tremendous. Other cuts include "In & Out", "Black Cat", "Goodbye Jungle Telegraph", and "Break It Up". LP, Vinyl record album

Ella's performing songs written by or associated with Duke–what could be better? Here she's backed by two different Ellington groups–-one a big band, the other a small group, whose members included Stuff Smith, Barney Kessel, and Ben Webster. Titles include "Rockin' In Rhythm", "Caravan", "Take The A Train", "Clementine", and "Perdido", all performed with the with the big band, and "Satin Doll", "It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)", "Cottontail", and "Do Nothing Till You Here From Me", backed by the small group. Sublime! CD

Really great stuff from Babs Gonzales – a whole host of rare singles, compiled into one excellent collection! CD

A very cool quintet of Korean lovelies from the 70s – five gals who could sing sweetly when they wanted, but also hit some funkier sounds on their instruments as well! The Happy Dolls follow strongly in the tradition of earlier Army base acts from the postwar Korean scene – but they've also got a groovier sound overall, and maybe more of an international appeal too – given the time they spent on the Vegas stages in the early part of the decade, and their frequent work in Canada during the latter half. This set was recorded in Toronto, and it's got a very unusual approach that mixes equal parts small combo funk with some fuller harmony singing as well – a shift that takes place from track to track on the set, which makes for a surprising sense of variety. The group turn in two great covers – "Funky Stuff" and "Pick Up The Pieces" – both of which work great in kind of an indie funk mode – and other tunes include their own "Bombie", a take on "Shake Your Booty", and even a "Drum Solo" number! LP, Vinyl record album

A velvet mood, but one with a bit of an edge – as you might expect from Billie Holiday in the 50s, hardly the stuff of a too-soft vocal date! The album's got Holiday working in wonderful small combo mode – getting some key Verve backup from players who include Sweets Edison on trumept, Benny Carter on alto sax, Barney Kessel on guitar, and Jimmy Rowles on piano – a warmly intimate group who really fit the sad-tinged vocals from Billie. Tracks are longish – maybe a bit more so than usual for a Holiday Verve session – and the set list includes beautiful renditions of "What's New", "I Gotta Right To Sing The Blues", "Prelude To A Kiss", and "When Your Lover Has Gone". CD

Queen of Soul is right! Heck, on these early albums, Etta practically invented soul – or at least invented a deep soul style of singing that would be taken up by countless other female singers during the 60s, but rarely matched with this kind of brilliance. Straight up beautiful stuff! The arrangements are uncredited, but we think they're probably by Riley Hampton – who did so much of Etta's other wonderful work in the early 60s. The recordings for sure took place at points between '62 and '64, mostly in Chicago, with couple in New York and one in Nashville. One other thing that is crystal clear about the sessions is that she had access to the very best musicians and the best sound possible – all you need is a listen to know that! The album's an all-solid, all-soul record with loads of obscure tunes and not a bit of filler! Titles include "Flight 101", "Bobby Is His Name", "Breaking Point", "Mello Fellow", "Do Right", and "Somewhere Out There". This first ever proper CD release is loaded with excellent bonus material – recordings from the same early-to-mid 60s period – 13 of them "You Got Me Where You Want Me", "Only Time Will Tell", "Pushover". "You Can't Talk To A Fool", "Would It Make Any Difference To You", "Pay Back", "Tomorrow Night", "I Can't Hold It Any More" and more. 23 tracks in all! (Soul, Vocalists) CD

A rich effort from Morgana King – the first of her rare Reprise LPs – and a record that shows incredible range and an ability to bring a heavy, textural mood to just about any kind of tune! Torrie Zito's arrangements on It's A Quiet Thing are lush, but, well, quietly so – and Morgana's vocals can build from what's kind of a deep vibrato hush to a really soaring affect! It's nice stuff – with an approach to well known songs of the time that's quite unique! Titles include "It's A Quiet Thing", "Dindi", "Gone With The Wind", "Little Blue Girl", "Mountain High, Valley Low", "How Insensitive", "Here's That Rainy Day", "Deep Song" and "If You Should Leave Me". LP, Vinyl record album

Fantastic stuff – and a key example of the penetration of psychoanalysis in the US during the postwar years! The tunes here are all vocal parodies of familiar themes from Freud – sung by Katie Lee in a way that's a bit jazz, but possibly a bit folksy too – very playful at times, with the dry wit that you'd get in some of Tom Lehrer's famous records of the same period. Instrumentation is arranged by Bob Thompson, who really emphasizes the whimsy in the tunes – and titles include "The Will To Fail", "Repressed Hostility Blues", "Gunslinger", "Properly Loved", "Real Sick Sounds", "Shrinker Man", and "Schizophrenic Moon". LP, Vinyl record album

Who can ever figure this chick out? Mrs Miller was a strange denizen of the bottom level of the music industry food chain – and her stock-in-trade was performing 60s pop tunes with a shrill fuddy-duddy style that was instantly recognizable, and forever annoying! This record is less of a "best of" than just a collection of her versions of 60's pop stuff like "These Boots are Made for Walkin", "Chim Chim Cher-ee", and "Downtown" – all given the mad Miller Sound treatment, with a harsh edge, and a wacky off-kilter sound. Wild stuff, and very goofy! LP, Vinyl record album