Vidas Secas (1964)

Released in 1964, the aptly titled Softly, the Brazilian Sound was Joanie Sommers' seventh long-player for Warner Bros. in under five years. She had been marketed as a torch balladeer to popular jazz and Great American Songbook enthusiasts, as well as a teenybopper to a considerably younger audience. Sommers joins forces with Laurindo Almeida (guitarist/arranger) in a move that predates Frank Sinatra's collaborative efforts with Antonio Carlos Jobim by several years. In actuality, the so-called "bossa nova" movement was one of the only trends to have any effect on the American pop scene during the mid-'60s - particularly when going up against British Invasion bands. And it's little wonder that Jobim's name crops up throughout the effort, as he co-penned a couple of tunes - including the sultry opener, "Meditation" (Meditacao)…

This two-CD set combines two separate concerts by the Oscar Peterson Trio. The bulk of this Jazz Lips compilation is devoted to The Complete Tokyo Concert 1964, previously only available as a Pablo LP or CD in Japan. With Ray Brown and Ed Thigpen providing their usual sterling support, covering favorite standards, time-tested jazz compositions (many of which were still relatively new at the time) like "I Remember Clifford" and "Bags' Groove," plus Peterson's stirring, gospel-infused "Hymn to Freedom." Peterson does his share of showing off his tremendous chops, though he is remarkably restrained on the ballad features, except for the rollicking setting of "Tonight" (from the musical West Side Story) and a ridiculously fast "Yours Is My Heart Alone"…

This two-CD set combines two separate concerts by the Oscar Peterson Trio. The bulk of this Jazz Lips compilation is devoted to The Complete Tokyo Concert 1964, previously only available as a Pablo LP or CD in Japan. With Ray Brown and Ed Thigpen providing their usual sterling support, covering favorite standards, time-tested jazz compositions (many of which were still relatively new at the time) like "I Remember Clifford" and "Bags' Groove," plus Peterson's stirring, gospel-infused "Hymn to Freedom." Peterson does his share of showing off his tremendous chops, though he is remarkably restrained on the ballad features, except for the rollicking setting of "Tonight" (from the musical West Side Story) and a ridiculously fast "Yours Is My Heart Alone"…

This two-CD set combines two separate concerts by the Oscar Peterson Trio. The bulk of this Jazz Lips compilation is devoted to The Complete Tokyo Concert 1964, previously only available as a Pablo LP or CD in Japan. With Ray Brown and Ed Thigpen providing their usual sterling support, covering favorite standards, time-tested jazz compositions (many of which were still relatively new at the time) like "I Remember Clifford" and "Bags' Groove," plus Peterson's stirring, gospel-infused "Hymn to Freedom." Peterson does his share of showing off his tremendous chops, though he is remarkably restrained on the ballad features, except for the rollicking setting of "Tonight" (from the musical West Side Story) and a ridiculously fast "Yours Is My Heart Alone"…

This quintessential release presents one of Hooker's most difficult to find albums: Burning Hell. Recorded in Detroit in April 1959, the Riverside label only originally issued the LP in England. A country-­blues classic, John Lee Hooker only plays acoustic guitar throughout the album, and sings straight to the bone with his soul drenched vocal delivery. Highlights include songs associated with Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Lightnin' Hopkins, and Big Bill Broonzy, as well as a number of Hooker's own finest compositions. In addition to the original masterpiece, this remastered CD also contains 8 bonus tracks, including a number of solo recordings taped in different locations between 1952 and 1961.