June's got rhythm, sure, but the real thing that makes her great is her dark and moody sense of melody! This album's one of June's late 50s efforts done with husband/arranger Bob Cooper – not as arch modern as some of her work with Pete Rugolo, but still in a style that's definitely inspired by that classic work. Backing is by a small group of LA jazzers – including Shelly Manne, Russ Freeman, Laurindo Almeida, Frank Rosolino, and Cooper – and titles include "My One & Only Love", "Blue Moon", "I Can Make You Love Me", "When Lights Are Low", and "Gypsy In My Soul". 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

A beautiful set by Nat King Cole joined by conductor/bandleader Quincy Jones and his Big Band – performing live in Zurich on May 1, 1960 – and what an impeccable performance it is! Quincy was touring with a pretty amazing line-up in his Big Band at this point – with Benny Bailey, Jimmy Cleveland, Melba Liston, Phil Woods, Sahib Shihab, Joe Harris and more – and they kick off the set with a couple gentler numbers before swinging more heavily on a couple, then introduce Nat – who's voice is in perfect form here. He sings his hits with the big band, some additional strings and a pared down trio format for a few – so we really get a broad representation of what these consummate performers can do in a number of settings, all in one concert, to boot. Wonderful stuff – released for the first time ever! Titles include "Moanin'", The Midnight Sun Will Never Set", "Airmail Special", "Unforgettable", "Sweet Lorraine", "Tea For Two", "Madrid", "The Phantom Blues", "Route 66", "Joe Turner's Blues", "The Midnight Sun Will Never Set" and more. Also includes a 5 minute interview with Nat. CD

A great example of the Muse Records charm of altoist Richie Cole – bop-fired creativity at its peak, mixed with some added contemporary elements to keep things fresh! In this case, Richie's horn takes on some key bop classics, but also opens up a bit with vocalsits too – Eddie Jefferson on versions of "Hi Fly", "Relaxin At Camarillo", and "Waiting For Waits" – the latter of which also features Tom Waits as well! The Manhattan Transfer make some subtle guest appearances too – but in ways that are much more restrained than their own albums, really leaving most room for Richie's horn. Bruce Forman plays guitar and Dick Hindman piano – and titles include "Hi Fly", "Relaxin At Camarillo", "Hooray For Hollywood", "I Love Lucy", "Malibu Breeze", "Waiting For Waits", and "Tokyo Rose Sings The Hollywood Blues". (Jazz, Vocalists) CD

A great example of the Muse Records charm of altoist Richie Cole – bop-fired creativity at its peak, mixed with some added contemporary elements to keep things fresh! In this case, Richie's horn takes on some key bop classics, but also opens up a bit with vocalsits too – Eddie Jefferson on versions of "Hi Fly", "Relaxin At Camarillo", and "Waiting For Waits" – the latter of which also features Tom Waits as well! The Manhattan Transfer make some subtle guest appearances too – but in ways that are much more restrained than their own albums, really leaving most room for Richie's horn. Bruce Forman plays guitar and Dick Hindman piano – and titles include "Hi Fly", "Relaxin At Camarillo", "Hooray For Hollywood", "I Love Lucy", "Malibu Breeze", "Waiting For Waits", and "Tokyo Rose Sings The Hollywood Blues". (Jazz, Vocalists) LP, Vinyl record album

(Classical, Vocalists) 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

A decade's worth of wonderful work from singer Sue Raney – a vocalist who was a real west coast gem at the time, and rarely got the fame she deserved! Sue's got a style that follows nicely in the mode of Chris Connor or June Christy, but which is also a bit warmer and personal, especially in a setting such as this. The sides are all studio sessions, but rare ones done for the US Navy Swings radio show at the time – recorded with backing from Shelly Manne & His Men, The Page Cavenaugh group, or the Buddy DeFranco Tommy Gumina Quartet. Instrumentation is all tightly jazzy, and sometimes filled with some freshly different phrasings – and the set features a nicely varied selection of 20 tunes that include "Umbrellas Of Cherbourg", "Breezin Along With The Breeze", "Goodbye Charlie", "Bluesette", "Five Definitions Of Love", "No Place To Go", "Burnt Sugar", "I Ain't Go No Worry", and "My Love Is A Wanderer". CD

5 classic albums from Nina Simone – packaged together in one sweet little set! First up is Nuff Said – a great little album from Nina – mostly recorded live at the Westbury Music Fair, with a hip mix of jazz, soul, and folk that's stretched out in a slightly informal setting that always brings out the best of Nina's vocals! Tracks include "The Backlash Blues", "Please Read Me", "Sunday In Savannah", "Why? (The King Of Love Is Dead)", and the nice jazzer "In The Morning". Plus, the album also includes one straight soul number – "Do What You Gotta Do", with some great arrangements by Horace Ott. Next is To Love Somebody – one of Nina's greatest records – recorded with her cool combo that included Weldon Irvine! Weldon's on organ on the set, and he co-wrote the two-part track "Revolution" with Simone, one of the album's strongest numbers! That track is set amidst covers of other hip 60s material, including "Turn Turn Turn", "To Love Somebody", "I Can't See Nobody", and "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" – all done with a freely righteous style that has Nina cutting loose at the end of the 60s! Black Gold is a real classic from Nina, one of the excellent sets she cut with the Stroud Productions imprint during the early 70s! The style here is even hipper than her late 60s work on Philips – with a mixture of open-ended jazz and soul that's best summed up in the album's extended reading of "Black is the Color of My True Love's Hair", and a great version of "To Be Young Gifted & Black", which was written by Weldon Irvine, who's probably playing piano here with Nina. It Is Finished is the kind of record that once made purists turn up their noses, but which is now being rediscovered as a unique jazz/soul crossover album, filled with loads of nice moments! The instrumentation's pretty darn interesting – and includes sitar, harp, Spanish guitar, and other odd percussion instruments. Includes Nina's nice version of "Funkier Than a Mosquito's Tweeter", plus "I Want A Little Sugar In My Bowl", "Dambala", "Obeah Woman", and "The Pusher". Nina Simone & Piano is a strong back to basics session for Nina, one that featured her piano and vocals only, a very spare approach that was markedly different from her work a few years previously for other labels. Nina's tone on the piano is incredible – and she's working with some striking modern jazz changes that offset the folksiness of her vocals in a fantastic way, creating a sound that's a lot fuller than you'd expect! Titles include "Seems I'm Never Tired Lovin You", "Compensation", "Everyone's Gone To The Moon", "Nobody's Fault But Mine", "I Think It's Going To Rain Today", "The Desperate Ones", "The Human Touch", and "Another Spring". CD

One of the most fully-realized concept albums ever recorded by Frank Sinatra – a set of all original material put together for Sinatra by Bob Gaudio and Jake Holmes – two younger talents who really come up with some great songs for the sessions! Gaudio had already been working some wonderfully complex changes in the sound of The Four Seasons, and he works here on arrangements too, with work from Charles Callelo – also a big force on the cool and groovy sound that kept the Seasons so great in the late 60s! The album didn't score hugely at the time, but it's a real overlooked gem in Sinatra's catalog – the kind of mature, focused album that he first founded Reprise Records to put together – served up with a style that's nicely different than his hit singles of the late 60s. Titles include "I Would Be In Love Anyway", "Watertown", "Goodbye", "What A Funny Girl You Used To Be", "Michael & Peter", "For Awhile", "She Says", and "The Train". LP, Vinyl record album