One of the excellent albums that Pete Rugolo made away from the company of Stan Kenton, for who he did most of his most famous work. Although the title says "brass", this isn't a loud swinging record in the Billy May sort of way. Instead, Rugolo arranges a haunting set of jazz tracks as showcases for players like Pete and Conte Candoli, Don Fagerquist, John Graas, and Frank Rosolino. The sound has that same dark edge that characterized his work with Kenton and with June Christy, and the track list includes "God Child", "Brass At Work", "Rose For David", and "All The Things You Are". LP, Vinyl record album

A real groover from the great Pete Rugolo – an album cut with an extra emphasis on the rhythm section, and a really jazzy feel! There's still some of the Kenton-modern touches of Rugolo's other work on the set, but overall, the tracks are a bit longer than usual, and done with a good array of solos by the unfortunately-unnamed members of the great group on the set. Titles include "Oscar & Pete's Blues", "Early Duke", "Fawncy Meeting You", "Don't Play The Melody", "Later Team", and "Repetitious Riff". LP, Vinyl record album

Pete Rugolo first came into prominence with Stan Kenton's group of the late 40s/early 50s – and he had a penchant for creating arrangements that dipped heavily into modernism, but never forgot to swing. He went on to do some fantastic arranging works for the likes of June Christy and The Four Freshman – but also managed to cut a few great albums on his own over the years! Rugolo's work for Columbia featured groups that were filled with excellent west coast players, and in a manner that was similar to (but more interesting than) the work of Kenton, Rugolo gave ample space to the skillful soloists in the band. This album's his first for the label, and includes the tracks "Montevideo", "Bobbin With Bob", "Me Next", "4:20 am", and "Hornorama". LP, Vinyl record album

An excellent crime soundtrack! Pete Rugolo's best known as the arranger who made Stan Kenton, The Four Freshmen, and June Christy sound so great in the 50s – but in later work, he did some incredible jazz soundtracks, as you'll hear on this batch of work for the TV show thriller. Tunes are played by a heavy group of west coasters – with lots of searing sax solos by Bob Cooper, Bud Shank, and Harry Kiee – plus other instrumentation that runs from percussion by Larry Bunker and Milt Holland, to organ by Jack Cookerly. Titles include "Voodoo Man", "The Hungry Glass", "Child's Play", "Finger Of Fear", "Man In the Middle", "Girl With A Secret", and "Thriller". CD

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A later Capitol gem by June – where she reprisies a number of classics from her early years with Stan Kenton – new versions of late 40s tunes, done here with Pete Rugolo arrangements that go a good way towards showing how both he and June had grown during the 50s. Titles include "How High The Moon", "Come Rain Or Come Shine", "Easy Street", "Across The Alley From The Alamo", "She's Funny That Way", and "A Hundred Years From Today". LP, Vinyl record album

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! 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". Plus, this special CD reissue features the mono and stereo recordings of the album – completely different ones, as the album was originally recorded in mono in 1954, and completely re-recorded again with the same arrangements in 1960! 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! Original Mono recording – from 1953. LP, Vinyl record album

That's "gone" – as in the way June Christy really sends us – vocals that take us to a place that few other 50s singers could ever hope to reach! June's work here is a masterpiece of melancholic understatement – far less overblown than some of her pop contemporaries, but also filled with feeling in a way that's different from some of the other icy singers of the time. A big part of the album's strength lies with arranger Pete Rugolo – who gives June here some of the same dark corners and modern elements you'd find in her classic Something Cool album – which really hits the right sort of emotion for Christy. Titles include "When The Sun Comes Out", "It's So Peaceful In the Country", "When You Awake", "Lazy Mood", and "Interlude". LP, Vinyl record album

One of June's all-time classics – and perhaps her most famous album, next to the sublime Something Cool. The set, like that one, was arranged and conducted by Pete Rugolo – whose icy and modern touches are the perfect foil for June's sad and dark voice. Familiar tunes are completely transformed by the pair's masterful handling – and titles include "The Wind", "There's No You", "For All We Know", "This Year's Kisses", "That's All", and "Maybe You'll Be There". CD features some bonus tracks too! 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". Plus, this special CD reissue features the mono and stereo recordings of the album – completely different ones, as the album was originally recorded in mono in 1954, and completely re-recorded again with the same arrangements in 1960! CD

A cool collection of Capitol material from Stan Kenton – mostly sides from his classic years of the early 50s! The work here shows a lively, more upbeat side of Kenton's music – one that still has some modern moments, but which is more in a west coast big band style overall. All tracks are from the years 1950 to 1952 – recorded after the financial failure of Stan's Innovations orchestra, and before his New Concepts group – all sessions that were supposedly "commercial" in nature, to help Kenton recoup some losses – but which still represent the forefront of jazz on the west coast at the time! Arrangers include Shorty Rogers, Pete Rugolo, Gene Roland, Bill Russo, and Johnny Richards – and soloists include Art Pepper on alto, Bud Shank on reeds, Bob Cooper on tenor, and Conte Candoli on trumpet. 20 tracks in all – including "Riff Raff", "Dynaflow", "Easy Go", "Viva Prado", "Francesca", "Soliloquy", "Lazy Daisy", "Beehive", "Cool Eyes", "Bill's Blues", "Night Watch", and "Jump For Joe". CD

A loving reissue that brings together two of the best June Christy albums on one CD! Both albums were cut a bit later than some of Christy's more famous work, and they represent the peak of her emotional maturity as a singer. The arrangements on both albums were done by Pete Rugolo, and he brought the same sort of eerie sound to the records that he did to Something Cool, his earlier classic with June. There's 20 cuts in all, and titles include "Off Beat", "The Bad & The Beautiful", "Saturday's Children", "Out Of This World", and "Nightime Was My Mother". Incredibly haunting work by one of our favorite all-time jazz vocalists! CD

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 have been replaced by fuller orchestrations by Ralph Burns – done in a cool, edgey sort of way that really pushes Chris into newly sophisticated territory! The sound's on a par with the best June Christy/Pete Rugolo collaborations on Capitol – and the group's filled with some great jazz players, including Zoot Sims, John Lewis, Milt Hinton, and Oscar Pettiford. Titles include "I Get A Kick Out Of You", "My April Heart", "He Was Good to Me", "Where Are You", and "Get Out Of Town". LP, Vinyl record album

A masterpiece – and possibly the greatest record ever by the Four Freshmen! The album is arranged by Kentonite Pete Rugolo, who gives it a very dark feel – similar to his amazing work on June Christy's Something Cool album (which is a perfect complement to this one) – and he's selected a core group of west coast jazzers to back the Freshmen up, including Barney Kessel, Shelly Manne, Frank Rosolino, and Claude Williamson. Don't worry about the "trombone" part, because the horns are used to provide dark deep washes of emotion to the songs – with the boys' vocals way out over the top, in mindblowing harmonies that could also exist perfectly without any backing. Titles include "Speak Low", "Love Is Just Around The Corner", "I Remember You", "Love", and "Guilty". LP, Vinyl record album

Features radio transcription sessions plus some early 40's studio material. Players include Kai Winding, Pete Rugolo, Shelly Manne, June Christy, and Anita O'Day. CD

A killer album from Johnny Richards – possibly the best he ever cut! The album sparkles with all the intensity he brought to Stan Kenton's Cuban Fire album – with bits of Latin, jazz, and some of the modernist scoring that Kenton, Richards, and Pete Rugolo were using at the time. However, the main thing about this album is that it swings like a mo-fo – moving past any tricks and gags to hit a strong jazz mode, with excelelnt solo work by players like Frank Socolow, Gene Quill, and trumpeter Burt Collins. Willie Rodriguez brings some nice Latin percussion to the set – and titles include "Cimarron", "Eyes", "Nipigon", and "The Ballad Of Tappan Zee". LP, Vinyl record album

A well-chosen batch of tunes from June Christy's legendary years at Capitol Records – material that really helped transform the sound of the voice in jazz during the 50s! Arrangements are by Pete Rugolo or Bob Cooper – and there's a tremendous amount of darkness in many of these tunes – a mix of cold and sweet that's simply breathtaking, and which is still a style that June does better than anyone else. Titles include "How High The Moon", "Nobody's Heart", "Something Cool", "Just A Sittin & A Rockin", "Midnight Sun", "Willow Weep For Me", and "My Heart Belongs To Only You". LP, Vinyl record album

Brilliant harmony vocals by the Four Freshman – an album with a title that perfectly sums up the Four Freshman contribution to 50s jazz, and their sublime way of re-casting vocals in their work! Most of the numbers on the set are familiar ones, but they're redone by the group with a brilliant sense of interplay that really transforms them – a style that's not nearly as complicated as some of their later work with Pete Rugolo, but which is somehow even more compelling, as it features the group arranging their own vocals, and playing the instruments that back them up! Titles include "Street Of Dreams", "After You", "My Heart Stood Still", and "Circus". LP, Vinyl record album