One of the best albums that Lou Rawls cut with the team of HB Barnum and David Axelrod – that incredible duo who made some of his 60s Capitol albums so great! The style here is wonderful – upbeat grooves from Barnum – who brings more soul into Lou's music than before – ... (Soul, Vocalists)read moreLP, Vinyl record album
(Stereo rainbow label pressing. Cover has a spot of surface wear in the upper corner, but is nice otherwise.)
Nancy Wilson sings lots of familiar tunes and is accompanied by Gerald Wilson and his big band orchestra. Tracks include "The Song Is You", "Satin Doll", "Bewitched", "Suffering With The Blues", "Someone To Watch Over Me", "The Best Is Yet To ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album
Helen Humes gets great small combo backing – from players who include Benny Carter on trumpet, Frank Rosolino on trombone, Teddy Edwards on tenor, Andre Previn on piano, Leroy Vinnegar on bass, and either Shelly Manne or Mel Lewis on drums. LP, Vinyl record album
(70s stereo pressing. Cover has some light ring & edge wear.)
A very laidback little album from Teddi King – a set that mostly features Teddi singing with only piano accompaniment from Dave McKenna, and which also features a few solo tracks by Dave as well! Teddi's voice has changed a bit since the 50s – but in a good way, with a bit more human ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album
Shirley Horn's definitely swinging here – in a set of tracks that features groovy numbers from two different points in her career! Some of the work on the set is from her early 60s years on Mercury and ABC Records – and the other half's from that great stretch in the 90s when her ... read moreCD
Ella Fitzgerald swings it nicely with the Tommy Flanagan Trio – a small group on the date for backup, but one who give this Montreux performance almost as much bounce as Ella's 70s live dates with a bigger ensemble! Tommy seems to have a bit more punch in his piano than usual, and Fitzgerald ... read moreCD
A beautifully understated album from Morgana King – one that has her working with familiar arranger Torrie Zito, but in a style that's a bit more laidback than before! There's a bit of strings on the album, but they really just shade in the sound from the back – leaving plenty of space ... read moreCD
Always-great work from singer Lorez Alexandria – still sounding wonderful, even at this late date! Her presentation's a bit earthier than before, but no less poised than on earlier sessions – with the same sense of space and timing that's always made her one of our favorite jazz ... read moreCD
Laverne Butler fronts a piano trio led by Bruce Barth! Tracks include "This Bitter Earth", "Hit The Road Jack", "Late Sunday Afternoon", "I'm A Fool To Want You" and "Willow Weep For Me". CD
A bittersweet set of vocals from Polly Bergen – recorded with a sound that really fits her sad-eyed look on the cover! Although Bergen's voice is sometimes confident and full, it's nicely restrained here – often somewhat dark-toned and moody – in ways that remind us of Morgana ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album
(Mono 6 eye pressing with deep groove. Cover has half split top & bottom seams, light wear & aging, tiny peel in the upper corner.)
One of our favorite vocal albums of the 50s – an incredibly witty live set from Noel Coward, recorded in Las Vegas, with a very different style than some of his other records! The Noel Coward you'll hear here is still steeped in the mannered wit of his earlier plays, but he's also let ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album
(6 eye Masterworks pressing with deep groove. Cover has light aging.)
Ellis Larkins & Tony Middleton —
Swingin For Hamp ... LP Concord, 1979. Near Mint- ...
$2.99
... LP, Vinyl record album
(Cover has a cutout hole and a small trace of a price sticker.)
Tracks include "The Thrill Is Gone", "Time After Time", "Look For The Silver Lining", "Daybreak", "Just Friends", and "My Ideal" – 20 cuts total. (Jazz, Vocalists)CD
Sarah Vaughan —
Tenderly ... LP Metro, Early 50s. Near Mint- ...
$5.99
... LP, Vinyl record album
(Mono pressing. Cover looks great, with minimal wear.)
A really wonderful set of Brazilian vocal tunes – sung by Pamela Driggs in a warm and jazzy mode that recalls some of the greats of the 70s! Production is spare and smooth, but never too smooth – and Pamela sings in a mix of English and Portuguese, scatting and tripping easily between ... (Brazil, Vocalists)read moreCD
Raw, raunchy sounds – all pulled together from a time before soul and rock even existed! Most of the work here is from the classic catalog of King Records – a killer imprint in the postwar R&B market, and a company who wasn't afraid to do what it took to make a knockout record! In ... (Soul, Vocalists)read moreCD
Accompanied by Houston Persoon on tenor, George Devens on vibraphone, Stan Hope on piano, Milt Hinton on bass, Vernell Fournier on drums, and Ralph Dorsey on percussion. LP, Vinyl record album
(Cover has light wear and is lightly bent at the top left corner.)
Patricia Barber —
Cafe Blue ... CD Premonition, 1994. Used ...
$4.99
Patricia Barber on piano and vocals, John McLean on guitars, Michael Arnopol on bass, and Mark Walker on drums and percussion. Titles include "What A Shame", "Mourning Grace", "Ode To Billie Joe", "Mahna De Carnaval", "Inch Worm", "The Thrill ... read moreCD
18 great tracks that show Nat's strong ability to handle material as a romantic and ballad singer – not in kind of a weepy mode, but in a sophisticated strong-willed style that was a perfect blend of measured emotion and simmering intensity. Titles include "Love Is The Thing", ... read moreCD
One of the beautiful records from Lou's late 60's years at Capitol, and one of the ones he made with the great team of H.B. Barnum and David Axelrod. As usual, Barnum turns out some fantastically swinging soul arrangements – and Axelrod's procduction ensures that things are nice and tight, ... (Soul, Vocalists)read moreLP, Vinyl record album
(Stereo rainbow label pressing. Cover has ring wear, cutout hole, split bottom seam, aging.)
Obscure swinging male/femal vocal group that both plays and sings, in the style of the Pat Moran group or other jazz vocal groups from the time. As far as we know, this is their only LP, and it's a hip batch of tracks like "Julie Is Her Name", "Bernies Tune", "Free ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album
(Cover has some surface wear & aging, splitting on the spine.)
A modern classic from Dee Dee Bridgewater – one of her hippest albums of the later years, thanks to a great choice of material, and some really wonderful execution! The album's a beautiful set of straight jazz vocal readings of some of Horace Silver's best compositions, and it also features ... read moreCD
A very cool album from Noel Coward – a talent you're probably more familiar with as a playwright, but who also happens to be quite the entertainer! This album is one of two great sets that Coward recorded live in the US in the mid 50s, and they really show him opening up a lot from earlier ... read moreCD
A definite shot at the pop market by Ella Fitzgerald – quite possibly recorded as a follow-up to the 60s success of former singing partner Louis Armstrong, who's referenced nicely in Ella's rendition of the title hit! The first 4 tracks on the set were done in the UK, under the leadership of ... read moreCD
Sammy belts it out wonderfully on a set of show-stoppers – tunes with Broadway sources, but redone here by Sam with a tight, jazzy finish! The approach makes the record one of his best of the 60s – a really solid set that virtually reinvents each tune – giving them the Davis ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album
(Tri-color stereo pressing. Cover has wear and aging.)
A later entry in Ella's Songbook series for Verve – but a great one too, thanks to some strong arrangements from Nelson Riddle! Riddle's working here at a level that he brought to his earlier sessions with Frank Sinatra – one that colors in the tunes with just the right amount of ... read moreCD
One of the first albums ever by this legendary jazz vocal group! LHR do the incredible – and create a set of vocal renditions of standards by the Basie band, putting jazzy lyrics in to replace the instrumental solos, but keeping the same vibe as the original tracks. The sound and approach ... read moreCD
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 ... read moreCD
A wonderful little album by Mel Torme – easily one of his best albums of the 50s, despite the tighter focus implied in the title! Although the set's a tribute to Fred Astaire. the album's got a very similar feel to Mel's classic album with Marty Paich's Dek-Tette for Bethlehem – ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album
A lost treasure from one of our favorite male jazz singers – the oft-overlooked Matt Dennis, known best as the composer of a few famous standards, but also a great vocalist in his own right – with a sad and torchy approach that's kind of unique! This album's got Matt singing and ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album
(Mono pressing with deep groove, 1s stampers. Cover has a split spine, clear tape on the top & bottom seams, light surface wear.)
A Swingin Affair indeed – as the album's one of our favorite ever from Frank's Capitol years! Nelson Riddle shows here that he can be just as great on the uptempo numbers as he is on the ballads – and casts Sinatra's full rich vocals into a great set of older swinging tunes. Frank ... read moreCD
A sad little album that has Frank still in the throes of the emotional loss expressed on The Wee Small Hours album – working here with Gordon Jenkins arrangements that use a fair bit of strings to well up the darkness that lurks in the songs on the set. The album kicks off with the sublime ... read moreCD
A Swingin Session indeed – as Frank steps out with Nelson Riddle on one of his last great albums for Capitol! The record's got the bounce and lilt of Frank's earlier gems with Riddle – a sly mix of jazz and strings that's every bit the best fit for Blue Eyes' vocals at the end of the ... read moreCD
Tracks include "I Hear Music", "I'm All For You", "Let's Do It", "Romance In The Dark", "St. Louis Blues", and "Georgia On My Mind" – with lots of alternate takes. CD
Beautiful work from Kay Starr – a set that's still got that remarkable vocal style in place, but which also comes across with a more mature sound too – a mode that's never too emotive, but which is full of feeling – and really makes great use of that classic Starr twang! The ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album
(Rainbow label stereo pressing. Cover has some surface wear, yellowing from age, small blemishes in back, some splitting in the spine, and split seams with clear tape holding the top.)
One of the stranger records on the Paul Winley label – mostly known for its important funk and hip hop recordings! The set features older work by Gloria Lynne, reissued in this 70s package, "by popular demand", as the cover states. Tracks are in the standard Lynne mode – and ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album
(Mid 70s issue. Cover has some ring and edge wear.)
A great live date from the best period in Jack Jones' career – with titles that include "Spinning Wheel", "Conversation", "I Had A Dream", "Everything Is Beautiful", and "Brother Where Are You". LP, Vinyl record album
(Orange label stereo pressing. Cover has some ring and edge wear, yellowing from age, and a promo imprint and small pen marks in back. Labels have small pen squiggles.)
Wonderful work from Leon Thomas – easily one of his greatest albums ever, and a set that was recorded at the same time he was working with Pharoah Sanders! Thomas really rose to fame on Sanders' classic "The Creator Has A Master Plan" – and this set really takes off from that ... read moreCD
One of Jimmy Rushing's last truly great albums – a jazz-tinged session of bluesy material, one that gets at his best work of the 50s! The arrangements are by Al Cohn, and have a fluid swing that pushes Jimmy past cliche – working with players that include Zoot Sims, Budd Johnson, ... read moreCD
This double-length set brings together two albums' worth of work that Carmen McRae recorded for the Groove Merchant label in the early 70s! The style here is strongly jazzy, but with a firm dose of soul too – all in a mode that follows nicely from Carmen's late 60s sessions for Atlantic ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album
(Cover has a cutout notch, ring and edge wear, tiny corner stain.)
Joe Williams was really reviving his career as a vocalist at this point – working with the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis big band on a few well-selling records, and on this smoother set with arrangements by Horace Ott. The overall feel is kind of in a swinging Grady Tate mode, with jazziness ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album
(70s black b label pressing. Cover has a cut corner, light edge wear.)
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 ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album
(Mono rainbow label pressing. Cover looks great, with minimal wear.)
One of Chet Baker's most classic albums of the 50s – a record that features both vocals and strong trumpet solos – all from a time when Baker was one of the hottest things going in jazz! The album's different from records from previous years, in that it moves Baker from LA to New York ... (Jazz, Vocalists)read moreCD
The first album in a legendary run of vocal jazz classics on Atlantic Records – and a set that really helped Chris Connor move to a new level of expression in her music! The sound here is much richer than Connor's previous recordings for Bethlehem – and the small combo jazz backings ... read moreCD
Like many other 70s reissues in the Prestige/Milestone/fantasy family, this set compiles 2 early albums by Mose. Unlike a lot of his later material, this set's mostly instrumental, though he does get in some vocals on about a third of the tracks. The album features some great work by Allison's ... read moreCD
The start of a legend – and the very first album by Sergio Mendes' Brasil 66 group, proudly brought to the world through the godlike talents of a young Herb Alpert! Sergio was no stranger to the recording studio by the time of this set, but the record marked a real shift in his music – ... (Brazil, Vocalists)read moreLP, Vinyl record album
Great early work from Oscar Brown Jr – a hip mix of jazz and soul, working in Brown's unique sense of showmanship, and his almost beat-like flair with a lyric! Ralph Burns and Quincy Jones handled the arrangements – and the album's filled with great original tracks by Brown, including ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album
(70s pressing. Cover has partially split seams, light wear, aging, and sticker spots.)
A fantastic shift in the sound of the Supersax ensemble – one that has the group's jazzy instrumentation mixed with a vocal chorus – in a way that's a bit similar to some of the best Singers Unlimited albums for MPS in the 70s! The title, cover, and group's name might make you think ... (Jazz, Vocalists)read moreLP, Vinyl record album
A very cool album from Noel Coward – a talent you're probably more familiar with as a playwright, but who also happens to be quite the entertainer! This album is one of two great sets that Coward recorded live in the US in the mid 50s, and they really show him opening up a lot from earlier ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album
(6 eye Masterworks pressing with deep groove. Cover has light wear.)
A 70s set from Sarah Vaughan, but one that's recorded in a classic small combo mode – acoustic overall, and a bit of a change from her other sessions for Mainstream Records! The date's a live one, and the tracks are taken at a looser level than some of Vaughan's studio work – a bit ... read moreCD
The title's a bit of a joke – because the record features a batch sidemen from the Count Basie band – Thad Jones, Joe Newman, Freddy Green, Billy Mitchell, Frank Foster, and others – all working with Sarah, but the Count's name is missing, due to contractual obligations! Despite ... read moreCD
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, ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album
(Original pressing with deep groove. Cover has a small split on the bottom right corner and light surface wear.)
Ernestine Anderson —
Big City ... LP Concord, 1983. Very Good+ ...
$2.99
Ernestine Anderson at the height of her powers – caught during a very successful run at Concord Records, where she was easily one of the hippest things going down at the time! The group here is a trio, and very tight – Hank Jones on piano, Monty Budwig on bass, and Jeff Hamilton on ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album
(Cover has light wear.)
Chris Connor —
Sketches ... LP Stanyan, 1971. Very Good ...
$4.99
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 & ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album
(Cover has some wear and aging, with a bit of waviness on the bottom seam.)
A classic set by the incomperable Nancy Wilson! The wonderful tunes here are set to really sweet arrangements by Billy May. It features mostly an assortment of standards, done with Wilson's pitch perfect, sophistisoul touch! The real standout here is the impeccable "Guess Who I Saw ... read moreCD
(Later black label stereo ABC/Tangerine pressing. Cover has a small cutout hole, ringwear, heavy edge wear, and wide center splits in the seams and spine.)
A great cooker from the glory days of Ernestine Anderson on Concord Records – a time when the singer was rediscovered, and revamped in a bit of a bluesy mode – reaching a wide new audience at the time! Her vocals really shine at this point in her career, as she lets loose with a bit ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album
A classic album from one of our favorite jazz singers ever – a set that really set a whole new standard for a generation! Even at this early stage, Lorez Alexandria was an amazingly accomplished vocalist – as you'll hear on this excellent selection of tunes from the Lester Young ... read moreCD
Sarah Vaughan takes on the work of Duke Ellington – almost presented here in a style that's similar to some of the Songbook albums on Verve from the 50s! Billy Byers handles most of the arrangements here – especially on the larger group numbers – but some tracks are also in a ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album