Peddlers —
Suite London ... CD Philips/Eclipse (UK), 1972. Used ...
Just Sold Out!
A really fantastic final album from The Peddlers – the UK trio who effortlessly mixed jazz and soul in the 60s, but who work here in a more expanded format! All the best elements of the group's sound are still nicely in place – those raspy vocals, strong use of keyboards, and ... (Soul, Vocalists)read moreCD
A relatively mellow vocal outing from Ithamara Koorax – a voice that was introduced to us from her appearances on some groovy Brazilian dancefloor tunes, including some of those from Dom Um Romao's albums! The style here is quite different – very laidback, and in the ballad mode you'd ... read moreCD
2 slices of Peggy Lee – one classic pop, one adult contemporary! I'm A Woman was a landmark album in Peggy's career – one that featured some wonderful crossover hits that broke her into a whole new audience in the 60s – and which really helped cement Peggy's relationship with ... read moreCD
A near-lost album from Sammy's years at Reprise – and an album that's got that nice bouncey style that the label was using with Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra in the 60s! A lot of the thanks goes to producer Sonny Burke, who inflects Sammy's vocals with a punched-up set of rhythms that makes ... read moreCD
(2004 Collectors' Choice pressing – still sealed!)
A 2CD set, with 2 late 60s gems from Johnny Mathis! Those Were The Days is a title tune sung famously by Mathis as a single – but even better are the rest of the tracks on the set – a cool batch of 60s numbers that really show Johnny stretching out comfortably with some new material, ... read moreCD
(Out of print.)
Jane Monheit —
Home ... CD EmArcy, 2010. Used ...
$1.99
One of Carmen McRae's great 60s albums for Atlantic Records – a set that's still strongly jazz-based overall, but which seems to have an extra dose of soul at the bottom! The approach is a bit like the best late 60s sides by Nancy Wilson or Marlena Shaw – rooted in jazz, but hipper ... read moreCD
(Out of print 2012 SHM-CD pressing, still sealed with the obi.)
Features Stan Getz on tenor sax! Titles include "Midnight Sun", "You're Blase", "Night Wind", "Hurry Home", "What's New", "Close Your Eyes", "More Than You Know", "There's A Lull In My Life", and "How Long Has ... read moreCD
The title says it all – as Billy sings themes from 12 big movies of the late 50s and early 60s – familiar tunes done here in a nice soulful setting, with arrangements by Billy Byers, and Bobby Tucker at the head of the orchestra. Titles include "More", "The High & ... read moreCD
5 classic albums from Nina Simone – packaged together in one sweet little set! First up is Nuff Said – a great little album from Nina – mostly recorded live at the Westbury Music Fair, with a hip mix of jazz, soul, and folk that's stretched out in a slightly informal setting that ... read moreCD
The complete recording of Tony Bennett and Bill Evans as a duo – the Tony Bennett/Bill Evans Album from '75 and the '76 follow up Together Again – back to back, plus a bonus CD of alternate takes! If you've ever doubted the real jazz sensibility of Tony Bennett, the Tony Bennett/Bill ... read moreCD
A pair of late 70s albums from Esther Phillips – '77's You've Come A Long Way, Baby and '78's All About Esther Phillips – together in a single set! The cover of You've Come A Long Way, Baby which has Phillips standing in front of a limo, might be a bit "on the nose" – ... (Soul, Vocalists)read moreCD
A classic! This is one of the best-ever albums by the legendary Marlena Shaw – and it's a tremendous live set that really lives up to the righteous promise of her earlier work on Cadet Records! The album was cut with a small combo, and the overall feel is incredibly hip – a mixture of ... (Soul, Vocalists)read moreCD
(Out of print 2012 Japanese pressing, includes obi.)
Two early calypso albums on Capitol Records – both pretty unique! First up are some of the first-ever recordings by Harry Belafonte – material recorded in 1949, with Pete Rugolo backings that are really amazing – as jazzy and modern as anything Rugolo did for other singers of the ... read moreCD
Soul jazz vocalist Dwight Trible gathers the forces for this magnificent effort – an album pairing his emotionally rich vocals and singular spirit with a group of largely west coast allstars – and it's pure genius! The Life Force Trio, from what we can tell, is simply the moniker for ... read moreCD
Tony Bennett —
Cloud 7 ... CD Columbia, 1955. Used ...
Just Sold Out!
One of Tony Bennett's greatest jazz sessions – a sublime mid 50s outing that features small combo backing from guitarist Chuck Wayne! The setting is extremely spare for the time – a real contrast from the higher drama of some of Tony's 50s chart hits, and the kind of a record that ... read moreCD
(Out of print.)
Carmen McRae —
Alive ... CD Columbia, 1965. Used ...
Just Sold Out!
Ella Fitzgerald sings Broadway – but in a way that makes the tunes completely her own! Marty Paich turns in some great jazzy arrangements for the set – and the tunes are far more swinging than the usual showtunes you might expect – stripped of all their stage-bound drama, and ... read moreCD
A mighty nice setting for Carmen McRae, and a bit different than usual too – especially given that the backing group is a pretty soulful tenor/organ combo! Jack McDuff handles the Hammond, and Red Holloway plays both tenor and alto, with some nice comping from Phil Upchurch on guitar in the ... read moreCD
Carmen McRae —
Any Old Time ... CD Denon (Japan), 1986. Used ...
Just Sold Out!
A warm later set from Carmen McRae – recorded with great small combo jazz backing that features tenor sax work from Clifford Jordan! The album's a real back-to-basics one for McRae – and gets away from crossover modes used in the 60s and 70s, taking Carmen back to the more jazz-based ... read moreCD
(Original 1986 Japanese pressing.)
Joe Williams with Lambert Hendricks & Ross —
Sing Along With Basie ... CD Roulette, 1958. Used ...
Just Sold Out!
One of the more obscure albums by Lambert, Hendricks, and Ross – a session of Basie tunes, performed with backing by the Count, plus additional lead vocals by Joe Williams, the voice most closely associated with the Basie group at the time! The style is similar to the trio's Sing A Song Of ... read moreCD
Etta Jones —
So Warm ... CD Prestige/OJC, 1961. Used ...
Just Sold Out!
Etta Jones is definitely nice and warm here – working with some great backings from Oliver Nelson, who mixes in a bit of strings with the usual jazzy punch he was delivering at the time! Jones' vocals are at the height of her early powers here – working with poise, class, and a heck of ... read moreCD
How can we even begin to describe the genius of Lambert Hendricks and Ross? The group was a jazz vocal supergroup that merged three talents that had already made a big name in the bebop vocalese field – Dave Lambert, Jon Hendricks, and the lovely Annie Ross – and the project was an ... read moreCD
(Out of print.)
Josephine Baker —
Josephine Baker ... CD DCC/Elysee, Late 20s/Early 30s. Used 2 CDs ...
Just Sold Out!
Features 50 tracks including "That Certain Feeling", "Pretty Little Baby", "Skeedle Um", "J'Ai Deux Amours", "Mon Reve C'Etait Vous", and "Haiti" CD
Really beautiful work from bassist William Parker – a set of tracks that are every bit as righteous as some of his other albums, but in a completely different way! The music here is from a musical production that Parker's been creating over the past two-decades – beautiful vocal tunes ... (Jazz, Vocalists)read moreCD
Seminal work from vocalist Teddi King – quite possibly her best material ever, recorded during a memorable run for RCA in the mid 50s! King first came to fame as more of a small combo jazz singer, but during her time at RCA, she tried out a variety of different modes – some of the ... read moreCD
Great later work from Abbey Lincoln – music from that time when she's found just the right setting for the magnificent instrument that was her maturing voice! Abbey always had one of the most distinct styles of any jazz singer around – but in later years, the slight rasp that came in ... read moreCD
Gentle Rain, and a very gentle sound from Irene Kral – a wonderfully intimate album that has the vocalist working with only the piano of Alan Broadbent for accompaniment! Kral's always a pretty expressive singer, but she sounds especially so here – really getting a lot of space to ... read moreCD
Mighty nice material from the earliest years of Jackie DeShannon – a full unreleased album for Liberty, plus a bunch of other rare tracks too! The album is fascinating – as it's a tribute to Ray Charles, and has Jackie not singing her own songs, as she would do famously later – ... (Rock, Vocalists)read moreCD
Fantastic work from one of the grooviest singers of the 60s – the amazing Mina, a vocalist who hardly made waves on this side of the Atlantic, but who served up a wealth of wonderful material from the Italian scene at the time! You might know Mina from a few key soundtrack contributions she ... read moreCD
The first-ever album from Gil Scott-Heron – and a perfect bridge between the world of his writing and the years to come of musical transformations that would forever change the American scene! The set's not the warm, jazzy soul of some of Gil's later records – and instead, there's a ... (Soul, Vocalists)read moreCD
Our favorite-ever album from Gil Scott-Heron – and a set that we'd easily rank as one of our favorite soul records of the 70s! The mix of modes is mindblowing right from the start – as Gil's poetry comes into play with his growing talents as a singer, and his warm sensibility for jazz ... (Soul, Vocalists)read moreCD
A striking session for Anita O'Day – and a refreshing change from her work of the 50s! This one has Anita singing with arrangements by Gary McFarland, a mix of easy jazz styles that show a more sophisticated side to her voice – a bit more careful than before, with more hidden in the ... read moreCD
Two of the coolest trumpeters from the LA scene of the 50s – reunited here in a never-issued album from the start of the 70s! At the time of the set, Jack Sheldon was the real star of the date – big on TV, and a very confident, cool player – as well as a singer with a wonderfully ... (Jazz, Vocalists)read moreCD
Samara Joy is a rare jazz singer – the sort who manages to have ties to the past, but also really bring so much of her own spirit to the music – not subtle inflections on the tunes, but instead this really personal style that has her absorbing older tracks and turning them into ... read moreCD
Swinging vocals from the great Vic Damone – an excellent singer of the show/lounge circuit, represented here by two excellent albums from his Capitol years! On The Street Where You Live features Vic working with Pete King arrangements, in a set of mostly-show tunes – redone by Damone's ... read moreCD
A charming little set from the great Dave Frishberg – easily one of the hippest singers and songwriters in jazz during the past few decades! The set's got Dave working solo – just singing along with his own piano accompaniment – in a whimsical way that matches the same sort of ... read moreCD
Insanely great work from Slim Gaillard, the self-styled LA hipster who rose to prominence in the wartime blues and jazz scene, and who continued to wow audiences for years with his unique blend of hipster jazz! This CD features some of Slim's best work – recorded for Verve in the 50s, and ... read moreCD
(Out of print. Tray card has a couple slight age marks.)
Sublime stuff! Sure, it's easy to sit back and say that you don't really dig Ray Charles albums that mix together country music and soul, and that you prefer his hard raw raunchy Atlantic recordings from the earlier days. But let's be honest, Ray really made his biggest splash with this stuff ... (Soul, Vocalists)read moreCD
(Includes slipcase and book – all in excellent shape!)
One of Louie's greatest albums ever – a hard-swingin batch of vocal group tunes, with all the sound that made him famous! The album was cut at the height of Louie's career back in the 50s – with vocals by Keely Smith on 2 tracks, and backing by the tight combo of Sam Butera and The ... read moreCD
With some nice guest tenor work from Buck Hill! Titles include "Get Out Of Town", "Beautiful Friendship", "I Got Lost In His Arms", "Come Fly With Me", and "So I Love You". CD
One of the only two vocal jazz albums that the Blue Note label recorded back in the day – and a haunting batch of tracks from a young Sheila Jordan! The style here is quite different than that of Jordan's later, more experimental records – and this early session shows her as an ... read moreCD
A superstar performance from the Antibes jazz festival at Cote D'Azur – one that features Ella Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington sharing the stage, in a concert that was also recorded for a film! Most numbers here feature the full Ellington orchestra backing Ella up – but a few other ... read moreCD
Seminal pre-Verve work by Ella Fitzgerald – a variety of early singles from the late 40s and early 50s, collected together in one full album by Decca! Even at this point in her career, the Fitzgerald magic is firmly in place – sensitively taking on familiar lyrics on some tunes, ... read moreCD
Amazing work from singer Dee Alexander – a wonderfully soulful album of jazz vocals, and one that we'd rank right up there with our favorite records by Carmen Lundy or Dee Dee Bridgewater! Dee's a singer who's worked in Chicago for years, but we've honestly only begun to appreciate her ... read moreCD
Arrangements by Torrie Zito, and titles include "All Blues", "Easy Living", "Prelude To A Kiss", "Fascinating Rhythm", "Bluesette", and "A Taste Of Honey". CD
Sarah Vaughan gets some great backings here from Quincy Jones – who brings a nice sort of punch to the record, and makes it one of her grooviest from the early 60s! The style's still somewhat traditional – not as much in moddish Jones modes from a few years later – but there's ... read moreCD
(1997 pressing with 2 bonus tracks.)
Dinah Washington —
Cocktail Hour ... CD Allegro/Columbia River, 1950s/Early 60s. Used 2 CDs ...
$6.99
The title's no lie – as Sarah Vaughan sings here in some very soulful company – thanks to arrangements from Gerald Wilson, which make this record one of the standout from her years on Roulette Records! The other players aren't listed, but they're clearly the kind of top-shelf bunch ... read moreCD
Backed by Mulgrew Miller, Rod Williams and James Weidman on piano, Grachan Moncur III on trombone, Lonnie Plaxico on bass and Terri Lyne Carrington on drums! CD
It's time to swing, but with a classy sound throughout – very much the best mix of modes Dakota Staton brought to her key early years at Capitol Records! Backings are by Sid Feller, and are pretty darn jazzy throughout – more so than some of Sid's other work of the time – a ... read moreCD
The title certainly gets it right – as Dakota Staton is definitely dynamic on this one, but not in a way that's hokey or forced at all! Instead, the record nicely lifts Staton from some of the more laidback and bluesy modes of her other 50s records – into a fuller range of styles that ... read moreCD
(2006 pressing.)
George Shearing Quintet/Dakota Staton —
In The Night ... CD Capitol, 1957. Used ...
$9.99
Wonderful late 50s jazz from the LA scene – not just because singer Dakota Staton is at the best of her youthful prime, but also because the Shearing group on the set is great too! George is working here with one of his best lineups – a group that includes Latin-inflected Al McKibbon ... (Jazz, Vocalists)read moreCD
A fantastic early album by the amazing Jimmy Scott – billed here as "Little Jimmy Scott" – because of his youth, height, and his style of singing! Jimmy's fragile voice is in perfect form here – a really unique blend between torch jazz modes and some of the bluesier ... read moreCD
(1993 Nippon Columbia pressing – includes obi.)
Terry Callier —
Alive ... CD Mr Bongo (UK), 2001. Used ...
$7.99
Brilliant work by Terry Callier – and his greatest album in years! If you, like us, have loved Terry's older work, but been a bit disappointed by the heavy production of recent albums, then you'll probably love this excellent live set – recorded recently at London's Jazz Cafe, with ... (Soul, Vocalists)read moreCD
One of Frank Sinatra's last great ballad albums for Capitol – a sad and dreamy batch of tunes that kicks off with the incredible "Only The Lonely" – one of those Sinatra torch songs that's so great, so sad, nobody else has ever been able to record a better version, nor have ... read moreCD
With Monty Alexander on piano, Ben Wolfe on bass, and Clyde Lucas on drums – plus special guests Hendrik Meurkens on harmonica and vibes, and Dick Oatts on flute and soprano sax. CD
A timeless mix of heart tuggingly intimate strings and beautiful vocals by Esperanza Spalding – a set that feels deep down close to the heart, and in turns, quite soaring – all the while wonderful! The aspects we loved so dearly on Esperanza's previous albums are also done here – ... (Neo Soul, Vocalists)read moreCD
One of the hippest records we've ever heard from Esperanza Spalding – a set that almost feels as if she's stepping back into some of the more experimental, individual qualities that made her so different at the start! There's definitely some appealing, catchy songs here – but the ... (Neo Soul, Vocalists)read moreCD
Gregory Porter arrives on Blue Note Records – and the result is Porter's most fully-formed set so far – just the kind of album that will push him firmly into the limelight – a place that we've felt he's deserved for quite a few years! Porter's a hell of a singer, and a hell of a ... read moreCD
The sweet vocals of Nancy join the classic Cannonball quintet for a great set of soul jazz tunes that was one of Capitol's biggest selling jazz sides in the 60s! About half the cuts feature Nancy on vocals – on tunes like "Save Your Love For Me", "Never Will I Marry", ... read moreCD
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 moreCD
An obscure vocal jazz gem from the LA scene of the 50s – recorded for Atlantic, but done in a style that's a fair bit like the best work for Bethlehem or Mode at the time! Betty Bennett sings here with backings from Shorty Rogers on one side, and Andre Previn on the other – often in a ... read moreCD
(2007 Japanese pressing in a nice glossy LP style cover – in great shape with obi!)
Frank Sinatra & Tommy Dorsey —
Love Songs ... CD RCA, 1940/1941. Used ...
$1.99