• The Song Is June! ~ June Christy (Audio CD) Christy's albums were as much a marvel of acting as vocals; she created and lived a very specific character. By turns spooky, humorous, and touching.
 
• Bass Sheet Music

• Travelin Light [IMPORT] ~ Anita O'Day (Audio CD) O'Day's sexy, slurred intonation sounded as if she were rolling the words around in her mouth. Billie Holiday tribute albums can be tedious, but hers is by far one of the greats.
 
• Music Songbooks

• By Special Request (Jpn Lp Sleeve) [IMPORT] ~ Carmen McRae (Audio CD) Crusty on the outside, warm in the center, McRae's no-nonsense voice was never sentimental. She cut to the heart of a lyric, and made you a believer. Her first Decca LP is a vocal masterpiece.

• Mink Jazz ~ Peggy Lee (Audio CD) Sleek but swinging: that could well sum up Peggy's style, and this album in particular. The breathtakingly fragile ballads are wondrous.
 
• Greatest Jazz Vocalist Albums

• Julie...At Home/Around Midnight [IMPORT] ~ Julie London (Audio CD Jazz) These are two of London's finest albums. "At Home" is intimate and jazzy, while "Midnight" is lush and orchestrated. Both guaranteed to fog up your spectacles.
• Jazz Salsa DVD

• Nancy Wilson & Cannonball Adderley ~ Cannonball Adderley, Nancy Wilson (Jazz) (Audio CD) One of the jazziest albums in Wilson's enormous catalog.

• Swingin' Miss 'D' ~ Dinah Washington (Audio CD) The standards Miss D tackles here are uniformly excellent; the bonus cuts "You Let My Love Grow Cold," "Drown in My Tears" and "Tears to Burn" are scorching R&B revelations.

• Songs for Distingue Lovers [EXTRA TRACKS] ~ Billie Holiday (Audio CD) With apologies to the Chairman, Billie delivers the definitive reading of "One for My Baby" on this classic album.

• Ella Swings Brightly with Nelson [EXTRA TRACKS] ~ Ella Fitzgerald (Audio CD Jazz) This is Ella at the height of her stardom: singing sweetly and confidently, surrounded by Nelson Riddle's rich, brassy arrangements.


• Ella Fitzgerald Sheet Music

• Sarah Vaughan W/ Clifford Brown [EXTRA TRACKS Jazz] ~ Clifford Brown, Sarah Vaughan (Audio CD) Her voice was so grandiose, Sassy's arrangers often tried to match her with overblown orchestral settings. This quiet, jazzy record is simple, elegant and worthy of her appellation.

• Sings Morgan/Party's Over ~ Polly Bergen (Audio CD) If remembered at all today, it's as a television personality. But Bergen was a great singer who recorded a number of fabulous 50s albums.
 
• Bass Christmas Sheet Music

• Chris Connor/He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not (Collectables Jazz Classics) ~ Chris Connor (Audio CD Jazz) Connor's excellent Atlantic albums (1955-61) are strangely unavailable, with a few exceptions. She was particularly at home with art ballads and torch songs, as this set amply proves.

• Lena Horne (Limited Edition) [IMPORT] ~ Lena Horne (Audio CD) The lovely Lena singing Burke & Van Heusen, a crack songwriting team that's rarely anthologized. Lena's glamorous style and their almost folksy songs make a harmonious mixed marriage.

• Pastel Blues/Let It All Out ~ Nina Simone (Audio CD) Simone's albums can be mixed bags, but these 2 are among her most consistent. Her one-of-a-kind voice makes timeworn standards sound unique.
 
• Jazz Sheet Music

• The Story of the Blues/Melancholy Baby ~ Della Reese (Audio CD) Were it not for her TV success, these albums would languish out-of-print. "Blues" is racous and hollerin', "Melancholy" is blue and torch.

• Beach Samba Jazz ~ Astrud Gilberto (Audio CD) A fabulous merging of 60s lounge-pop with cool Brazilian jazz; Gilberto's voice is innocent seduction.

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