Eoin Keely,

Italian-American singer, actor, songwriter, bandleader, and trumpeter, Louis Prima (1910-1978) was rooted in New Orleans jazz, swing, and jump blues, but he touched on various other genres throughout his career. From the 1940s through the 1960s, when these recordings were made, his music further encompassed early R&B, rock'n'roll, boogie-woogie, and even Italian folk music, such as the tarantella. In 1954 Prima was offered a long-term engagement at The Sahara in Las Vegas to open his new act with singer Keely Smith (born in 1928, she is 89 at this writing). He enlisted New Orleans saxophonist Sam Butera (1927-2009) and his backing musicians, ''The Witnesses''. The act was a hit, and ultimately led Prima to sign with Capitol Records in 1955. The present concert performance at The Sahara, immortalized on the LP Las Vegas Prima Style (Capitol Records - T-1010), was taped by Prima in 1958 with Keely and Butera, and is presented here in its entirety.

Lots of pop vocalists have tackled the vaunted SONGS Lennon-McCartney songbook, but this 1964 release from the late, great Keely Smith was the first album by an artist of her ilk devoted to the lads from Liverpool. And perhaps the best one, too…with sparkling arrangements by Ernie Freeman and Benny Carter, and production from Keely’s soon-to-be husband Jimmy Bowen, the record alternately seduces and swings, and Keely’s voice—with its bluesy phrasing and lilt patented on The Strip—is the perfect instrument to interpret these Fab tunes.

There's no way Keely Smith will ever be able to escape the long shadow of Louis Prima, whose fourth wife she was and who led the band where she found her greatest fame. Heard apart from Prima, she was a fantastic vocalist, the equal of more respected singers like Chris Connor or Helen Merrill, who were working a much different circuit than Smith during the late '50s and early '60s. The Essential Capitol Collection is an excellent way to survey Keely Smith's early career; it includes 27 songs, including much of her several LPs for the label, as well as her most popular duets with Prima and two with Frank Sinatra.

Ol' Blue Eyes is always ripe for a top-notch, big-band-flavored tribute, but how many who take on the daunting task knew him as well as his contemporary, whom Dean Martin and Sammy Davis, Jr. once dubbed "the female Sinatra"? And in case you don't know the history, Frank Sinatra Jr.'s liner notes and numerous archival photos of Smith with Sinatra fill you in. Smith recorded this prior to the legend's passing in 1998 and even had his thumbs up on the project, but held back its release so as not to appear to be capitalizing on the Sinatramania which followed his death. With the ample and energetic backing of the Frankie Capp Orchestra, Smith does him proud on 18 chestnuts from his catalog, her voice clear and honest, her phrasing sharp and emotional…

The swing revival was custom made for singers like Keely Smith. Keely Swings Basie Style… With Strings follows 2000's Swing, Swing, Swing and 2001's Grammy-nominated Keely Sings Sinatra, capping off a trilogy of lovingly performed classic jazz. Smith's backward glance, however, isn't just pure nostalgia. Keely Swings Basie Style, for instance, begins with Count Basie-style arrangements and then applies them to a number of songs not necessarily associated with the bandleader. The addition of strings provides another distinctive layer. Smith begins with "April in Paris" and brings her warm vocals to bear on a number of other classics, including "Happiness Is a Thing Called Joe" and "How High the Moon." There's a particularly lovely take on "Mood Indigo" and a bouncy version of "Cherokee (Indian Love Song)"…

This DRG two-fer brings together two worthy and neglected Louis Prima/Keely Smith Capitol albums from the late '50s. Hey Boy! Hey Girl! is the soundtrack album from the lounge duo's 1959 film of the same name. Not as cheesy as it might sound at first, it features Louis and Keely (and Sam Butera & the Witnesses) at their Las Vegas peak. The title track is a brisk, lightly swinging duet from the pair while "Oh Marie" almost delicately reprises Prima's Sicilian heavoly scatting classic from the previous year's The Wildest! Saxophonist Butera gets his own hipster vocal on "Fever," and Keely sings at least two ballads, "You Are My Love" and "Autumn Leaves," to lend the proceedings a little class…