William Rutledge

WHV celebrates on of the true masters of American cinema with the release of The John Ford Collection. Four-time Academy Award's-Winning director John Ford is perhaps best known for his Westerns and collaborations with John Wayne, however, this Ford collection runs the gamut of genres and shows the diversity and genius of John Ford at his most impressive. Featured here will be the DVD debuts of five classic titles - all will be exclusive to the five-disc boxed set.

Actresses who moonlight as singers often have difficulty being taken seriously and quite often, the skepticism is well-founded. But Cybill Shepherd, though far from breathtaking, is in fact, a decent and likable jazz-pop singer. From the balladry of "More than You Know" and "My Ship" to vibrant and surprisingly swingin' interpretations of "'S Wonderful" and Fats Waller's "Ain't Misbehavin," Vanilla presents Shepherd as a very warm and enjoyable interpreter of standards whose phrasing at times suggests a more jazz-oriented Peggy Lee. Reissued on CD in 1990, the album also features solos by pianist Phineas Newborn, Jr., a masterful bebopper and Bud Powell disciple, also well worth hearing.

Frank Foster's Loud Minority big band was formed in the early 1970s, and made a raucous, politically oriented funk-fusion type recording for the Mainstream label.There's absolutely no filler, no wasted motion or excess, and nothing but solid musicianship on this guaranteed gold recording that ranks with the very best that modern big-band jazz has to offer. It belongs in every collection.

In the second Bess Crawford novel (after A Duty to the Dead, 2009), the World War I battlefield nurse is escorting several injured soldiers back to England. Job done, Bess prepares to take a two-day leave, but, at the train station, she’s startled to see the wife of one of her patients in a rather emotional situation with another man. Later, after Bess learns that Scotland Yard is very interested in locating the woman, she finds herself on the trail of a killer.