... LP, Vinyl record album

A rare vocal outing from Richard Rodney Bennett – known mostly as a composer and pianist! LP, Vinyl record album

Yes indeed – a mighty early classic from the great Ray Charles – one of his first full length albums, and a set that brings together the searing sort of work he was doing for Atlantic Records in the 50s! Ray's completely confident and at the top of his game here – and a lot more raw than if you only know him from his later country-tinged material. Tracks include "What Would I Do Without You", "It's All Right", "Get On The Right Track", "Blackjack", "I Want A Little Girl", and "Heartbreaker". (Soul, Vocalists) LP, Vinyl record album

Nice material from a very under-recorded period in Chris Connor's career – with arrangements by Pat Rebillot and Alyn Ainesworth – on titles that include "The Long & Winding Road", "Hit Em In The Head With Love", "Time & Love", "Buy & Sell", "More Today Than Yesterday", and "Ten Cents A Dance". LP, Vinyl record album

Later work from Billie Holiday – all recorded for Verve with some hip group backing! LP, Vinyl record album

Features Ella Fitzgerald on vocal performances of "April In Paris", "Party Blues", and "Every Day I Have The Blues" – with Count Basie backing. Also features a jam session version of "Billie's Bounce" – with Art Blakey, Charles Mingus, Tal Farlow, Zoot Sims, and others – and a solo piano take on "Lady Fair" by George Wallington. (Jazz, Vocalists) LP, Vinyl record album

An album that's often overlooked amidst some of the bigger "songbook" Verve sessions by Ella Fitzgerald – yet a really special record that shows off a side of Ella that's not ever captured this well on other records! The record was also initially billed as tied into the book and film Let No Man Write My Epitaph – but there's nothing soundtrack-like at all about the performance, as Fitzgerald works with only backing from pianist Paul Smith – a player who sounds wonderful next to the singer, and brings just the right sort of inflections to open up Ella's vocals for the date! There's a spare quality that's completely captivating – proof that Fitzgerald was a hell of a jazz singer at the core, even when her star was rising on the international scene – maybe even more compelling without any large arrangements at all, as she takes on superb material that includes versions of "Misty", "Black Coffee", "Angel Eyes", "I Cried For You", "Who's Sorry Now", "September Song", "Then You've Never Been Blue", and "Reach For Tomorrow". LP, Vinyl record album

Hard to imagine Etta Jones being lonely and blue – especially when she sounds as great as this! The album's one of Jones' early classics from Prestige – a date that really has her classing things up a lot, and drawing on bits of Billie Holiday and Dinah Washington's styles, to mix in with the bluesier tones of her roots – put together with a great deal of charm, and a new sophistication that made Etta one of the hippest jazz singers of the 60s! Backing is by a cool small combo – with Patti Brown on piano, Wally Richardson on guitar, and a bit of tenor from Budd Johnson – and titles include "I'll Be There", "In the Dark", "Gentlemen Friend", "I Wonder", and "Miss You So". LP, Vinyl record album

Although Lambert, Hendricks, & Ross started out their career singing vocalese versions of Basie tunes, they do a pretty darn great job here with Ellington – in fact, maybe even better, given the sophistication of the tracks. And while the album lacks some of the whimsy of the wonderful Flying High record cut around the same time, it still also features work by the Ike Isaacs trio, who keep things in the same soulful groove. Titles include "Caravan", "What Am I Here For?", "All Toon Soon", and "Main Stem". LP, Vinyl record album

Nancy Sinatra grabs us good with this classic from the 60s – a record that showcases its sexy sound with her go-go boot look on the cover, and which follows through with some superb production from the great Lee Hazlewood! The set is one of the key records in the Lee and Nancy partnership – set to killer Billy Strange arrangements, and with that punch in production that covers up any of the faults in Nancy's vocals, and replaces them with this sense of timing and space that's as superb as the tunes chosen for the set list! Tracks include "How Does that Grab You Darlin", "My Baby Cried All Night Long", "Not the Loving Kind", "Bang Bang", "Call Me", "Crying Time", "Sorry Bout That", and "Sand". LP, Vinyl record album

Genius early work from this ultra-hip pair – with titles that include "Hey Stop That Dancing Up There", "Avocado Seed Soup Symphony", "Matzoh Balls", and "Voutoreene". LP, Vinyl record album

Don't miss this one! For years, we passed this one by, thinking it an impure version of the great jazz duo Jackie & Roy. Now, though, we realize that it's one of their masterpieces, and takes their hip vocal sound into a new dimension, with cool L.A. production from the late 60's, and some great material that pushes them to the next level – like Marcos Valle's "Deus Brasilero" and the Bee Gee's "Holiday", or the songs "Open", "Without Rhyme Or Reason", and "Winds Of Heaven, all written by the great Fran Landesman. Massive grooviness, perhaps inspired by the vegetation in the title of the LP! LP, Vinyl record album

Anita O'Day on one of her great self-released albums – working here with some cool duos and trios – including work from the great Stan Tracey on piano, plus Kirk Lightsey on two tracks too! Titles include "Girl From Ipanema", "Once Upon A Summertime", "Tea For Two", "Love For Sale", "Night & Day", and "Boogie Blues". LP, Vinyl record album

One of our favorite singers and one of our favorite composers – brought together in a dream of a vocal jazz album! We've always loved the tunes that Michel Legrand penned for films of the 60s and 70s – as they've got a depth, sincerity, and jazziness that goes beyond most of his contemporaries – but they've also never sounded better than in the hands of vocalist Karin Krog and arranger Palle Mikkelborg, who both really deliver a unique twist on the Legrand sound! Mikkelborg's arrangements for the set are extremely beautiful – sometimes using funky backings, sometimes softer strings – but always getting the right balance between emotion and grooviness that Legrand brought to his original recordings of the work. And guitarist Philip Catherine plays some nicely complicated lines that electrify the tunes with a weird, moody feel – often "singing" alongside Karin's deeply icy vocals in a really wonderful way. The tracks are all taken at slightly longer readings than you might expect, which makes for even more room for creative invention – and titles include "Watch What Happens", "Ask Yourself Why", "I Will Wait For You", "Once Upon A Summertime", and "What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life". LP, Vinyl record album

A fantastically groovy treat! This album was once dismissed as simple throwaway pop stuff by Mel – but now it's hailed as the genius of grooviness it was designed to be! The feel here is very Austin Powers – as Mel sings to hip swinging 60s arrangements of pop tunes, and some totally excellent undiscovered songs with a very groovy edge. Hipsters already know his versions of "Comin Home Baby", "My Little Red Book", and "Secret Agent Man" – but there's some other fantastic cuts on here, like "Time", "Red Rubber Ball", and "Pretty Flamingo". LP, Vinyl record album