Amazing early work from Blossom Dearie – quite possibly her best album for Verve, recorded in the mid 50s right after her return from work on the Paris scene! The style here is sprightly and whimsical, yet also fragile and human – a blend that few other singers can pull off as well as Dearie – a trademark sound right from the get-go, and this album's probably the best place to start with Blossom's solo career! Backing is by a small combo that features Ray Brown on bass, Herb Ellis on guitar, and Jo Jones on drums – and Blossom herself plays piano. Titles include "Deed I Do", "You For Me", "Tout Doucement", "Everything I've Got", "Wait Till You See Her", and "A Fine Spring Morning". CD

A great look at the earliest years of the lovely Blossom Dearie – and a set that also features a surprising amount of work from reedman Bobby Jaspar, who was making big waves on the Paris jazz scene at the same time the young Blossom was living in France! CD1 features the pair together – a lovely set of duos with Bobby on flute and Blossom on piano, pulled from a rare 7" EP – which is then followed by a set of piano instrumentals lead by Dearie, from the album Jazz Sweet – a French-only release! The CD then follows with Blossom's great vocal jazz group The Blues Stars Of France – with tracks from both their first album and their rare EP – great vocal harmony numbers of bebop tunes. CD2 features Blossom's famous self-titled album for Verve – a great American debut – but then follows with lots more rare material, including a Blue Stars 7" single, a rare Dave Lambert & Buddy Stewart 78rpm single, and even other vocal tracks by Annie Ross and King Pleasure. CD3 mostly features material that focuses on the talents of Bobby Jaspar on flute – some under his own leadership, plus more with other artists and groups, including work with singer Helen Merrill, guitarist Rene Thomas, and trombonist JJ Johnson. 75 tracks in all – and a booklet of notes! CD

One of Blossom Dearie's fantastic albums for Verve – all of which stand as some of the best recorded work she ever did! The album features Blossom in a warm intimate group, which gives great focus to her endearing voice, and lively piano. She's backed by Ray Brown and Herb Ellis, and she sings some nice groovy numbers that hearken back to her days in France – including "The Riviera", "Plus Je T'Embrasse", and "Give Him The Ooh-La-La". Nice stuff, and with a groovy cover to boot! LP, Vinyl record album

One of Blossom Dearie's hippest albums – done in that lightly grooving style that makes her 60s work some of our favorite! The style is groovier than Dearie's already-great work on Verve – a bit in the mode of her Capitol Recordings, and some of her British 60s gems from overseas – and the album's got Blossom on vocals and piano, working with a small combo led by pianist Joe Harnell, whose arrangements are really wonderful, and show a bit of his love of bossa. The quintet also features Jerome Richardson on tenor and flute, adding in some really nice touches – soulful horn inflections that really give the album a richer sound than some of Dearie's previous records. The set list is great, too – with some very nice 60s pop tunes that have Blossom working in territory that brings out her dreamy best! Titles include "What Kind Of Fool Am I", "I've Got Your Number", "Days Of Wine & Roses", "I Wanna Be Around", "The Sweetest Sounds", "Desafinado", and "Fly My To The Moon". CD

Sure, it was silly stuff when we were kids – but once De La Soul sampled "Three Is The Magic Number", this record became one of the most prized in our possession! And thanks to that hip hop reintroduction, we've really fallen in love with the music again over the years – partly because the tunes are all so groovy, and partly because we've really come to know the jazz-based work of composer Bob Dorough! At the time of this set, Dorough was coming off some great work in the 60s – his own rare recordings, music for Spanky & Our Gang, and others – all of which seems to inform these math-based tunes written for Saturday morning TV. The tunes are all pretty darn catchy, and often quite jazzy – and instrumentation often features some great electric piano nestled in alongside the vocals. Dorough sings the lion's share of the work for this album – although Grady Tate sings on two numbers, and Blossom Dearie on one more. Titles include the amazing "Three Is A Magic Number" – plus "Lucky Seven Sampson", "Little Twelve Toes", "Ready Or Not Here I Come", "I Got Six", "Naughty Number Nine", "Figure Eight", and "The Four Legged Zoo". CD

One of the greatest writers on singers presents his essential collection of albums from the 20th century – all served up with the kind of loving detail that's always made the prose of Will Friedwald so great! Will's written the book on Frank Sinatra – literally – and on Tony Bennett, and a number of other singers too – and you've no doubt stumbled across his words in liner notes for reissues over the years. This time, Friedwald expands that later genre – and offers up full chapters that go in depth to some key vocal jazz classics – including Something Cool by June Christy, My Gentleman Friend by Blossom Dearie, Ella In Berlin by Ella Fitzgerald, John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman, Rain Or Shine by Dick Haymes, Lady In Satin by Billie Holiday, Black Coffee by Peggy Lee, and even Belly Of The Sun by Cassandra Wilson! There's a few dozen more titles covered in the book – which has 51 chapters in all – and the heavy book also features an album cover reproduction for each title, and a discography as well. 402 pages, hardcover. Book

One of the more obscure 60s albums cut by jazz vocalist Irene Kral – and a great little record that shows her to be more of a singer than we expected! Some of the tunes on the set have the straight vocals with band feel of Irene's other albums, but a few more go for a groovier sort of 60s sound that we really love – pushing Irene almost into pop vocal territory, but with enough jazz and enough class to keep things cool. Overall, the album's sort of in the range of similar mid and late 60s work by Blossom Dearie or Chris Connor – and the set list includes a lot of hip tunes, like "Nothing Like You", "Wonderful Life", "There Is No Right Way", "Is It Over Baby?", "Goin To California", and "I've Never Been Anything". LP, Vinyl record album

Music from Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong, Billy Eckstine, Morgana King, Cassandra Wilson, Sarah Vaughan, Blossom Dearie, Ella Fitzgerald, Fred Astaire, Anita O' Day, Billie Holiday & more. CD

Music from Dinah Washington, Shirley Horn, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Helen Merrill, Bill Henderson, Anita O'Day, Sarah Vaughan, Blossom Dearie, Fred Astaire, Billy Eckstine & more. CD

Music from Joe Williams, Shirley Horn, Anita O'Day, Louis Armstrong, Blossom Dearie, Dinah Washington, Sarah Vaughan, Mel Torme, Ella Fitzgerald, Bing Crosby, Helen Merrill & more. CD

A beautiful set of hipster jazz vocals! This legendary album by Pittsburgh pianist Frank Cunimondo has always been a favorite for the jazz-dance groover "Feelin Good" – a cut which has an incredible drum and bass riff, and which has been sampled more than a few times over the past few years. But even above that track, the whole album's pretty darn great – and it features an excellent set of vocals by the lovely Lynn Marino, a very unique vocalist with a sweet style that's sort of like Blossom Dearie. The whole album's got a lovely light groove, with some heavy rolling piano lines from Frank, tight rhythm backing by the trio, and a great sweet sound from Lynn. A real treasure, and impossible to find on the original vinyl. Titles include "Beyond The Clouds", "Pretty Pretty", "What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life", "Love So Fine", "A House Is Not A Home", and the incredible "Feelin Good"! CD