BEVERLY KENNEY - Like Yesterday (1960-1999) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

With Like Yesterday, Beverly Kenney updates a series of pop standards with a formula rooted in the archly modern sound of Eisenhower-era jazz. Experienced decades after the fact, the album boasts a timelessness that renders its basic conceits of time and place moot, especially given that the fierce intelligence of Kenney's phrasing and the sultry depth of her vocals contrast so sharply with the Doris Day stereotypes associated with the period in question. Backed by a small but exemplary supporting cast including guitarist Chuck Wayne and reedist Jerome Richardson, Kenney eschews embellishment and excess in favor of lean, taut arrangements that emphasize emotional context, Her readings of familiar songs like "More Than You Know" and "A Sunday Kind of Love" possess a startling intimacy. by Jason Ankeny
Tracklist:

1 Undecided 2:11

Bass – Bill Pemberton

Drums – Ed Shaughnessy

Guitar – Chuck Wayne

Piano – Stan Free

Tenor Saxophone – Al Klink

Trombone – Eddie Bert

2 Sentimental Journey 2:05

Bass – Bill Pemberton

Drums – Ed Shaughnessy

Guitar – Chuck Wayne

Percussion – Johnny Rae

Piano – Stan Free

Vibraphone – Johnny Rae

3 I Had The Craziest Dream 2:21

Bass – Bill Pemberton

Drums – Ed Shaughnessy

Guitar – Chuck Wayne

Piano – Stan Free

Tenor Saxophone – Al Klink

Trombone – Eddie Bert

4 And The Angels Sing 1:44

Bass – Bill Pemberton

Drums – Ed Shaughnessy

Guitar – Chuck Wayne

Piano – Stan Free

Trumpet – Stan Free

Woodwind – Jerome Richardson

5 More Than You Know 2:39

Bass – Bill Pemberton

Drums – Ed Shaughnessy

Guitar – Chuck Wayne

Piano – Stan Free

Woodwind – Jerome Richardson

6 The Dipsy Doodle 1:44

Bass – Bill Pemberton

Drums – Ed Shaughnessy

Guitar – Chuck Wayne

Piano – Stan Free

Woodwind – Jerome Richardson

7 What A Difference A Day Made 2:17

Bass – Bill Pemberton

Drums – Ed Shaughnessy

Guitar – Chuck Wayne

Percussion – Johnny Rae

Piano – Stan Free

Vibraphone – Johnny Rae

8 Somebody Else Is Taking My Place 2:01

Bass – Bill Pemberton

Drums – Ed Shaughnessy

Guitar – Chuck Wayne

Piano – Stan Free

Tenor Saxophone – Al Klink

Trombone – Eddie Bert

9 A Sunday Kind Of Love 2:30

Bass – Bill Pemberton

Drums – Ed Shaughnessy

Guitar – Chuck Wayne

Piano – Stan Free

Tenor Saxophone – Al Klink

Trombone – Eddie Bert

10 Any Old Time 1:34

Bass – Bill Pemberton

Drums – Ed Shaughnessy

Guitar – Chuck Wayne

Piano – Stan Free

Woodwind – Jerome Richardson

11 Happiness Is A Thing Called Joe 2:18

Bass – Bill Pemberton

Drums – Ed Shaughnessy

Guitar – Chuck Wayne

Percussion – Johnny Rae

Piano – Stan Free

Vibraphone – Johnny Rae

12 Tampico 2:00

Bass – Bill Pemberton

Drums – Ed Shaughnessy

Guitar – Chuck Wayne

Percussion – Johnny Rae

Piano – Stan Free

Vibraphone – Johnny Rae

PEGGY LEE - Black Coffee With Peggy Lee (1956-1999) RM / FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Peggy Lee left Capitol in 1952 for, among several other reasons, the label's refusal to let her record and release an exotic, tumultuous version of "Lover." Lee was certainly no Mitch Miller songbird, content to loosen her gorgeous pipes on any piece of tripe foisted upon her; she was a superb songwriter with a knowledge of production and arrangement gained from work in big bands and from her husband, Dave Barbour (although the two weren't together at the time). The more open-minded Decca acquiesced to her demand, and watched its investment pay off quickly when the single became her biggest hit in years. Black Coffee was Lee's next major project. Encouraged by longtime Decca A&R Milt Gabler, she hired a small group including trumpeter Pete Candoli and pianist Jimmy Rowles (two of her favorite sidemen) to record an after-hours jazz project similar in intent and execution to Lee Wiley's "Manhattan project" of 1950, Night in Manhattan. While the title-track opener of Black Coffee soon separated itself from the LP -- to be taught forever after during the first period of any Torch Song 101 class -- the album doesn't keep to its concept very long; Lee is soon enough in a bouncy mood for "I've Got You Under My Skin" and very affectionate on "Easy Living." (If there's a concept at work here, it's the vagaries of love.) Listeners should look instead to "It Ain't Necessarily So" or "Gee, Baby, Ain't I Good to You?" for more examples of Lee's quintessentially slow-burn sultriness. Aside from occasionally straying off-concept, however, Black Coffee is an excellent record, spotlighting Lee's ability to shine with every type of group and in any context. [When originally recorded and released in 1953, Black Coffee was an eight-song catalog of 78s. Three years later, Decca commissioned an LP expansion of the record, for which Lee recorded several more songs. The 2004 Verve edition is therefore a reissue of the 1956 12-song LP.] by John Bush  

Tracklist:

1 Black Coffee 3:09
Sonny Burke / Paul Francis Webster
2 I've Got You Under My Skin 2:31
Cole Porter
3 Easy Living 2:47
Ralph Rainger / Leo Robin
4 My Heart Belongs to Daddy  2:11
Cole Porter
5 It Ain't Necessarily So 3:26
George Gershwin / Ira Gershwin
6 Gee, Baby, Ain't I Good to You? 3:26
Andy Razaf / Don Redman
7 A Woman Alone With the Blues 3:16
Willard Robison
8 I Didn't Know What Time It Was 2:21
Richard Rodgers
9 (Ah, The Apple Trees) When the World Was Young 3:21
Johnny Mercer
10 Love Me or Leave Me 2:10
Walter Donaldson / Gus Kahn
11 You're My Thrill 3:26
Sidney Clare / Jay Gorney
12 There's a Small Hotel 2:48
Lorenz Hart / Richard Rodgers
Credits:

Bass – Max Wayne

Drums – Ed Shaughnessy
Piano – Jimmy Rowles
Trumpet – Pete Candori
Vocals – Peggy Lee

BILLIE HOLIDAY - Stay with Me (1958-1991) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Featuring recordings from February 1955 and released in 1958, Stay with Me is a late entry in Billie Holiday's career. She was fading, but hadn't lost the dramatic quality in her delivery, nor her ability to project and tell a shattering story. She's backed by trumpeter Charlie Shavers, pianist Oscar Peterson, guitarist Herb Ellis, bassist Ray Brown, and drummer Ed Shaughnessy. [Some reissues add three bonus cuts.] by Ron Wynn
Tracklist:
1 I Wished on the Moon (Stay With Me) 6:50
Dorothy Parker / Ralph Rainger
2 Ain't Misbehavin' (I'm Savin' My Love for You) 4:40
Harry Brooks / Andy Razaf / Fats Waller
3 Everything Happens to Me 6:22
Tom Adair / Matt Dennis
4 Say It Isn't So (Stay With Me) 3:04
Irving Berlin
5 I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm 3:59
Irving Berlin
6 Always 3:59
Irving Berlin
7 Do Nothin' Till You Hear From Me (Stay With Me) 4:59
Duke Ellington / Bob Russell
- Bonus Tracks -
8 How Deep Is The Ocean * 2:56
9 What A Little Moonlight Can Do * 3:09
10 I Cried For You * 2:26
Créditos
Bass – Leonard Gaskin (tracks: 1-7), Ray Brown (tracks: 8-10)

Clarinet – Tony Scott (tracks: 1-7)
Drums – Cozy Cole (tracks: 1-7), Ed Shaughnessy (tracks: 8-10)
Guitar – Billy Bauer (tracks: 1-7), Herb Ellis (tracks: 8-10)
Piano – Billy Taylor (tracks: 1-7), Oscar Peterson (tracks: 8-10)
Tenor Saxophone – Budd Johnson (tracks: 1-7)
Trumpet – Charlie Shavers (tracks: all)
Vocals – Billie Holiday
Notas
Tracks 1-7 recorded Feb.14, 1955 in New York.
Tracks 8-10 recorded Apr.14, 1954 in New York.
*Additional tracks not on original LP.