A Ticklish Affair (1963)

Actress Julie London parlayed her movie fame into a successful career as a prolific recording artist, releasing some 30 albums between 1955 and 1969. "Latin In A Satin Mood" came out in 1963 and features an authentic Mexican vocal trio and mariachi-style trumpets on songs like "Besame Mucho" and "Vaya Con Dios", in arrangements that showcase London's sultry voice.

"A New Perspective" was released in 1963 on Blue Note Records. Considered to be one of the best and most successful uses of a gospel choir in a jazz context. Byrd himself said about the album, "I mean this album seriously. Because of my own background, I've always wanted to write an entire album of spiritual-like pieces. The most accurate way I can describe what we were all trying to do is that this is a modern hymnal. In an earlier period, the New Orleans jazzmen would often play religious music for exactly what it was - but with their own jazz textures and techniques added. Now, as modern jazzmen, we're also approaching this tradition with respect and great pleasure".

The year 1980 was fairly eventful for Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson. In addition to writing and producing Gladys Knight & the Pips' excellent About Love, the duo had a major hit of their own with the snappy "Love Don't Make It Right." Nonetheless, 1980's A Musical Affair didn't go down in history as one of Ashford & Simpson's essential albums. This vinyl LP isn't bad; most of the tracks are decent, and a few are excellent, most notably "Love Don't Make It Right," the melancholy "Get out Your Hankerchief," and the sentimental ballad "Happy Endings."

Telarc Records recently put out a compilation disc honoring the Brazilian songwriter Ivan Lins. Titled A Love Affair, it features some of America’s biggest pop and jazz names, including Sting, Dianne Reeves, Vanessa Williams, and Chaka Khan. Producing and directing the affair is keyboardist Jason Miles, the brains behind Telarc’s recent Weather Report tribute. While the record, and Lins’s music generally, tends toward "smooth jazz" at times, many of the tracks grab you with their irresistible melodic lilt and harmonic movement. Vanessa Williams’s version of "Love Dance" is a knockout, and Dianne Reeves’s delectable "Sweet Presence" is also a keeper. Lins has a gift; that much is undeniable.

(2-CD set) In a career that spanned four decades, Pops, Mavis, Pervis (later replaced by Yvonne) and Cleotha Staples made a lot of remarkable recordings. Happily the majority of these have remained in print, in one form or another, virtually since they were first issued. However, the group recorded for several labels in that time, and thus it's been the case to date that anyone wanting to build a definitive 'Best Of The Staple Singers' collection would have to buy at least five CDs, maybe more, in an attempt to piece together such a thing.

The idea of a big band in jazz is all-encompassing, representing completeness, fullness and instrumental articulation. In the mass collective imagination, when one thinks of jazz, a big orchestra immediately springs to mind, where the doors of rhythm and melody open wide, while harmonies run fast in swing time. The big band is the most traditional jazz formula, but it is also the most difficult: the musicians must be well disposed to choral and synergetic playing without attempting to overpower their sodalists, the solo parts are short and well distributed, while the improvisational fugues are contingent and controlled.