Annibale 1959

The recordings in the present set are typically fluent, compelling De Franco music in a first-class small combo setting. Individually De Franco and Harry Sweets Edison blow with the confidence and assertiveness that have become their hallmarks. Kessel takes care of business, lying quietly in the background until it comes his turn to solo, then leaping out to have his say. Jimmy Rowles, Herbie Mann, Bob Hardaway, and the rest of the men playing here are deeply swinging in healthly, mainstream fashion. One of the attractions is the delicacy of some of the ensemble textures and the way in which basic harmonies have been amended to fit the character of these 1959 De Franco Septette. Theres a lot of great listening here whatever your bias.

This two-fer compiles Polly Bergen's All Alone by the Telephone and Four Seasons of Love. It's an economical and convenient way for those who have a limited knowledge of Bergen's music to increase their knowledge and discover what lies beyond the singer's best-known recordings.
All Alone by the Telephone (1959) pairs Polly Bergen with arranger Luther Henderson to create a deeply melancholy song cycle that explores romantic estrangement and isolation from a refreshingly adult perspective. Bergen's dusky, world-weary vocals never resort to histrionics, finding their mode of expression in restraint, not release - her thoughtful interpretations of material like "Glad to Be Unhappy," "Too Late Now," and "By Myself" strip the songs to their core, articulating their themes of loss with hard-fought maturity…