Accompanied by The Ruby Braff/George Barnes Quartet, with Braff on cornet, Barnes on guitar, Wayne Wright on guitar, and John Giuffrida on bass. LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

If you've ever doubted the real jazz sensibility of Tony Bennett, then this is an album to change your mind – because Tony's working here in a marvelously unadorned setting – with only the piano of Bill Evans to back him up! The record's a rare gem from years after Bennett was cracking the pop charts, but was willing to pull back to the jazz of his roots – and the session's equally rare for Evans, who rarely worked with vocalists at this point in his career. The simplicity of the album is its strength – and together, the pair really sound tremendous – slightly faltering at times, but in a way that exposes a sense of humanity you might not find in other records, especially those by Bennett. Titles include "When In Rome", "Some Other Time", "The Touch Of Your Lips", "My Foolish Heart", "Waltz For Debby", and "Young & Foolish". LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

... CD

A great Tony Bennett LP – very different than others from the time (or any time!) in that the format pairs the master vocalist with the "who's who" of drummers and percussionists of the late 50s – including Art Blakey, Jo Jones, Candido, and Sabu. The sound is as majestic and crashing as you'd imagine, and cuts include "Let's Begin", "Love For Sale", "Crazy Rhythm", and "Let's Face the Music and Dance". A great LP, and one of his best. If you've ever doubted Tony's committment to jazz, check this one out, and be pleasantly surprised! LP, Vinyl record album

... CD

... CD

... LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

... CD

... LP, Vinyl record album

A pair of late 60s Columbia classics from Tony Bennett – back to back on a single CD! First up is Tony Makes It Happen – a very jazzy album, with a group that features Joe Wilder and Joe Newman on trumpets, Urbie Green on trombone, Joe Soldo on flute, and orchestrations from Marion Evans – all of whom really bring out those unique qualities that set Bennett apart from so many other singers in his generation! Where a Vic Damone might have used his inherent richness to push things over the top, the maturing Tony is a master of restraint – still able to run the full gamut of his amazing range, but set up with these beautiful arrangements that bring some adult understanding to the tunes, in a beautifully subtle vibe. Titles include "What Makes It Happen", "I Don't Know Why", "Can't Get Out Of This Mood", "She's Funny That Way", "A Beautiful Friendship", and "Don't Get Around Much Anymore". Next is Yesterday I Heard The Rain – fantastically mature work from Tony Bennett – a record that follows in that great direction the singer was taking in the 60s – delivering sophisticated vocals that didn't care much for the charts, but which really stand the test of time as the years go by! As on some of Tony's best from the period, arrangements are by Torrie Zito – whose careful orchestrations always let Bennett's vocals soar out in the lead, while also hitting some occasional flourishes that bring just the slight touch of drama to the music – but never in the over the top styles of some of his contemporary! Space is the key here – lots of space between the words and the notes – which makes even simpler songs sound pretty darn amazing. Titles include "Sweet Georgie Fame", "Fool Of Fools", "Only The Young", "I Only Have Eyes For You", "Yesterday I Heard The Rain", and a surprisingly great version of "Hushabye Mountain". CD

... LP, Vinyl record album

If you've ever doubted the real jazz sensibility of Tony Bennett, then this is an album to change your mind – because Tony's working here in a marvelously unadorned setting – with only the piano of Bill Evans to back him up! The record's a rare gem from years after Bennett was cracking the pop charts, but was willing to pull back to the jazz of his roots – and the session's equally rare for Evans, who rarely worked with vocalists at this point in his career. The simplicity of the album is its strength – and together, the pair really sound tremendous – slightly faltering at times, but in a way that exposes a sense of humanity you might not find in other records, especially those by Bennett. Titles include "When In Rome", "Some Other Time", "The Touch Of Your Lips", "My Foolish Heart", "Waltz For Debby", and "Young & Foolish". CD

If you've ever doubted the real jazz sensibility of Tony Bennett, then this is an album to change your mind – because Tony's working here in a marvelously unadorned setting – with only the piano of Bill Evans to back him up! The record's a rare gem from years after Bennett was cracking the pop charts, but was willing to pull back to the jazz of his roots – and the session's equally rare for Evans, who rarely worked with vocalists at this point in his career. The simplicity of the album is its strength – and together, the pair really sound tremendous – slightly faltering at times, but in a way that exposes a sense of humanity you might not find in other records, especially those by Bennett. Titles include "When In Rome", "Some Other Time", "The Touch Of Your Lips", "My Foolish Heart", "Waltz For Debby", and "Young & Foolish". LP, Vinyl record album

... CD

A huge collection – 39 tracks in all! CD

... CD

A great collection of some of the more jazz-based work of singer Tony Bennett – one that features a huge amount of all-star musicians – including Al Cohn and Stan Getz on tenors, Count Basie and Herbie Hancock on pianos, Nat Adderley on cornet, Chico Hamilton and Art Blakey on drums, and Herbie Mann on flute! LP, Vinyl record album

A surprising bit of genius from Vic Damone – an album done in a mature, adult, easy-going style that we really love! The set's got echoes of 60s Sinatra and Tony Bennett – but also shares a lot with the newer sophistication that was being crafted by some of the hipper female singers of the time – a mode that eschews the charts and bypasses the younger crowd, and goes straight for the boozy, older audiences who've had their hearts broken enough to really get the spirit of the tunes! Arrangements are by Perry Botkin, J Hill, and Dick Grove – and titles include "It Never Entered My Mind", "The More I See You", "I'll Find You A Rainbow", "Two For The Road", "I Never Go There Any More", and "Arrivederci My Love". LP, Vinyl record album

Great mid period work from Vic Damone – from that wonderful RCA Records stretch when he was really coming into his own – and matching both Jack Jones and Tony Bennett for some of the most sophisticated singing of the 60s! Arrangements are by Ernie Freeman, Don Costa, and Perry Botkin – and the song choices are nice and hip too! LP, Vinyl record album

A wonderful set from vocalist Johnny Holiday – recorded in later years, but with a depth that easily matches his classics! The album's got a definite bossa bent – as you'd guess from the title – and Johnny's rich, deep vocals work with the music in ways that are quite similar to Tony Bennett's best bossa-styled recordings of the 60s – surprisingly full of feeling, but with the right sort of careful balance to live up to the best bossa traditions, too! The notes are a bit lacking in detail, but we believe the set was done in collaboration with Sam Most – who plays some great jazzy flute, amidst light rhythms and just a dash of strings. Titles include "Triste", "Wave", "Dindi", "This Happy Madness", "Meditation", and "One Note Samba". CD

Neat cover with a hodge podge of CBS artists – Simon & Garfunkel, Janis Joplin, Tremeloes, Christie, Tony Bennett, Ray Conniff, Percy Faith, Lafayette, I Profeti, Sangre, Sudor & Lagrimas. LP, Vinyl record album

A set that might well also be titled "the birth of reggae" – as it pulls together some of the harder-edged cuts that were really starting to get the music going on the UK scene at the end of the 60s – work that had a leaner, meaner vibe than rocksteady and ska – with a slight uptick in the rhythms, and maybe a more sinister approach to the music overall! The tracks here are all from the mighty production talents of Bunny Striker Lee – one of the key forces in this new musical moment – and although some of the names might be familiar, the set's a nice contrast to some of the more staid presentations of the music on the market. 24 tracks in all – including "The Russians Are Coming" by Val Bennett, "Peoples Choice" by Winston Williams, "The Avengers" by Tommy McCook, "Peyton Place" by D Tony Lee & Roland Alphonso, "Drums Of Fu Manchu" by Headly Bennett, "Music House" by Roland Alphonso, "Peanut Vendor" by Tommy McCook, "Gits Brown" by Lennox Brown, "Annie Pama" by Bunny Lee All Stars, and "Dreams To Remember" by The Hippy Boys. CD

A nice little album from Johnny Hartman – recorded back in the mid 50s for Bethlehem, in the years before he recorded his more famous dates for the Impulse label! The set has Johnny singing nice and mellow – with backing by a group led by pianist Ralph Sharon, one of Tony Bennett's longtime accompanists, with added trumpet by Howard McGhee – which creates some nicely moody interplay in the relatively spare setting of the session. Hartman's vocals are a dream, as always – and tracks include "What Is There To Say", "Moonlight In Vermont", "I'll Remember April", "Down In The Depths", "I Fall In Love Too Easily", and "We'll Be Together Again". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the greatest, straightest sets from Mel Torme – an all-classic batch of tracks that's quite different than his other album for Columbia! Torme checks in as a totally committed, totally serious jazz vocalist here – with an impeccable approach to the music that puts this album right up there with the best work of Frank Sinatra or Tony Bennett – very mature, but very personal too – in a way that really transforms familiar tunes. Arrangements are by Robert Mersey, who handles Torme with the best care he's had since the classic 50s recordings with Marty Paich – and titles include "PS I Love You", "The Nearness Of You", "Haven't We Met", and "Ho Ba La La". CD features a huge amount of bonus tracks – 12 additional numbers, 2 of which are unreleased – titles that include "Only The Very Young", "Paris Smiles", "Every Day's A Holiday", "One Little Snowflake", "You'd Better Love Me", and "I See It Now". CD

Follow up to the first Wild & Swingin collection – with music from Eydie Gorme, Steve Lawrence, Bobby Darin, Nancy Wilson, Louis Prima, Vic Damone, Peggy Lee, Wayne Newton, Tony Bennett, Dinah Washington, and more. CD

Bill Charlap plays the music of Hoagy Carmichael, accompanied by Peter Washington on bass and Kenny Washington on drums – plus guest spots from Tony Bennett, Shirley Horn, Jim Hall and Frank Wess! CD

A nice little album from Johnny Hartman – recorded back in the mid 50s for Bethlehem, in the years before he recorded his more famous dates for the Impulse label! The set has Johnny singing nice and mellow – with backing by a group led by pianist Ralph Sharon, one of Tony Bennett's longtime accompanists, with added trumpet by Howard McGhee – which creates some nicely moody interplay in the relatively spare setting of the session. Hartman's vocals are a dream, as always – and tracks include "What Is There To Say", "Moonlight In Vermont", "I'll Remember April", "Down In The Depths", "I Fall In Love Too Easily", and "We'll Be Together Again". CD

An incredible treasure trove of music – the complete film scores that Michel Legrand penned for his films with director Jacques Demy – plus rare bonus tracks, alternate versions, vocal takes, and even a bit of working sessions and studio work as well! We've always been huge fans of this key cinematic collaboration – a musical match heard most famously in the films Les Parapluies De Cherbourg (Umbrellas Of Cherbourg), Les Demoiselles De Rochefort (Young Girls Of Rochefort), and Peau D'Ane (Donkey Skin) – music scored by Legrand with a sublime blend of his jazzy roots and some of the more joyous elements in the narrative – still some of our favorite soundtrack work ever! But here, in this great box with 11 CDs in tiny sleeves, you also get full soundtracks for Lola, Les Sept Peches Capitaux, La Baie Des Anges, L'Evenement Le Plus Important Depuis Que L'Homme A Marche Sur La Lune, Lady Oscar, Parking, and Trois Places Pour Le Vingt Six. Plus, the set also features a series of "Suites Symphoniques" for the three famous films – an English language version of Young Girls Of Rochefort, a CD of working sessions and playbacks, and another CD that features vocal and instrumental interpretations of the tunes – by Sergio Mendes, Bud Shank, Astrud Gilberto, Tony Bennett, Bill Evans, Isabelle Aubret, and many others! A real treasure – and the sort of set we never thought we'd see! CD

One of the greatest, straightest sets from Mel Torme – an all-classic batch of tracks that's quite different than his other album for Columbia! Torme checks in as a totally committed, totally serious jazz vocalist here – with an impeccable approach to the music that puts this album right up there with the best work of Frank Sinatra or Tony Bennett – very mature, but very personal too – in a way that really transforms familiar tunes. Arrangements are by Robert Mersey, who handles Torme with the best care he's had since the classic 50s recordings with Marty Paich – and titles include "PS I Love You", "The Nearness Of You", "Haven't We Met", and "Ho Ba La La". LP, Vinyl record album

Music from Annie Ross, Peggy Lee, Tony Bennett, Gordon McRae, Martha Tilton, June Christie, Judy Garland, Chris Connor, Helen O Connell, Nancy Wilson & more. CD

A set of special guest appearances with Brubeck – features Gerry Mulligan, Charles Mingus, Thelonious Monk, Leonard Bernstein, Tony Bennett, Jimmy Rushing, Louis Armstrong, and Carmen McRae and others! LP, Vinyl record album

A brilliant album that follows on the trend that was begun by Sinatra and Tony Bennett – one that takes strong jazz backings from Count Basie to push a singer past the usual pop format! Sammy didn't always get backing this strong – and the album's got Quincy Jones handling the arrangements for Basie in the same mode the he used on the Sinatra/Basie sides for Reprise. Titles include "The Girl From Ipanema", "She's A Woman", "New York City Blues", "Work Song", and "Blues For Mr Charlie" – and the album even features Sammy doing a bit of tap dancing! LP, Vinyl record album

Beautiful material from the final decade of the life of piano genius Bill Evans – more than a full album of unreleased recordings, plus material that appeared on the albums Tokyo Concert, Intuition, Tony Bennett/Bill Evans Album, Since We Met, Montreux III, Quintessence, Alone Again, Crosscurrents, I Will Say Goodbye, Re Person I Knew, Eloquence, and From The 70s. 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

Rare funky soul from Ghanaian disco diva Nana Love – the rare, appropriately-titled Full Of Funk record from 1979 – with dynamite vocals by Nana and featuring Ghana legend Harry Mosco and other incredible players in the studio band! Nana's voice is uniquely amazing – with a sweet, girlish tone that builds to a lioness roar on occasion – which is incredibly compelling – and sung entirely in English. The band provides a wicked backdrop of funky dancefloor soul – propelled by fantastic guitarwork by Mosco, Paul Pryce and Les Forrest, killer basslines by Grek Haywood, sax and flute by Humphrey Okoh, percussion by Ayindi, drums by Tony Martin, synth and clavinet by Adrian Bennett and piano by Richard Reid. This great version from BBE includes 5 bonus tracks not on the original release – and the titles include "I'm in Love", "Whe Gonna Stay For The Party", "Talking About Music", "Disco Lover", "When The Heart Decides", "Reach Out My Hand", "Hang On Baby", "Loving Feeling (Dance Mix)" and "Loving Feeling (Instrumental)". LP, Vinyl record album

A brilliant album that follows on the trend that was begun by Sinatra and Tony Bennett – one that takes strong jazz backings from Count Basie to push a singer past the usual pop format! Sammy didn't always get backing this strong – and the album's got Quincy Jones handling the arrangements for Basie in the same mode the he used on the Sinatra/Basie sides for Reprise. Titles include "The Girl From Ipanema", "She's A Woman", "New York City Blues", "Work Song", and "Blues For Mr Charlie" – and the album even features Sammy doing a bit of tap dancing! CD

A nice little album from Johnny Hartman – recorded back in the mid 50s for Bethlehem, in the years before he recorded his more famous dates for the Impulse label! The set has Johnny singing nice and mellow – with backing by a group led by pianist Ralph Sharon, one of Tony Bennett's longtime accompanists, with added trumpet by Howard McGhee – which creates some nicely moody interplay in the relatively spare setting of the session. Hartman's vocals are a dream, as always – and tracks include "What Is There To Say", "Moonlight In Vermont", "I'll Remember April", "Down In The Depths", "I Fall In Love Too Easily", and "We'll Be Together Again". CD features a number of bonus tracks too! CD