Julie Feeney

Julie Driscoll's (now Tippetts) first move away from the blues-oriented pop of the Brian Auger band turned out to be this prophetic slab of wax that revealed her penchant to transcend the trappings of rock and pop for something more adventurous. To this end, Driscoll employed the help of many of the Canterbury scene's best-known musicians, including Carl Jenkins, Elton Dean, future husband Keith Tippetts, and guitarist Chris Spedding. The set opens with what would become an anthem for Driscoll, the horn-laden rocker "A New Awakening," in which she details the benefits of the search for new ground emotionally and mentally.

With its ciaconna bass, Hammerschmidt’s sacred concerto Nun danket alle Gott perfectly exemplifies the programme of this recording devoted to the influences of the Italian Baroque on the works of seventeenth-century Lutheran composers. The vast majority of the repertory gathered here comes once again from the exceptionally rich library assembled at the end of the seventeenth century by Gustav Düben, organist of the German Church in Stockholm. His collection contains the only known copy of a Confitebor tibi Domine by Claudio Monteverdi. Other composers such as Bernhard and Rosenmüller had very close links with Italy and were among those who helped to disseminate Italian practices in the German-speaking lands.

The debut album from the formation of Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger & The Trinity, this record introduced to America a group that had been making some noise in England for some time already. The album is a bit fragmented, containing a few Julie Driscoll solo tracks, as well as some Auger/Trinity efforts without Driscoll. One of the most amazing moments opens the record: Driscoll's solo hit (in Europe), "I Know You Love Me Not." A swirling, churning string arrangement - not unlike a psychedelic Phil Spector - is the ground work for Driscoll's steely vocals. She come across as a combination of Dusty Springfield and Annie Lennox with a passionate performance. It's truly one of the great lost British records of the era, and alone is worth the price of the record…

Where the Ocean Meets the Sky is a relaxing and heartfelt solo piano release which includes original compositions from award-winning artist Julie Hanney. Music brings many people deep solace, and Julie hopes that these songs will bring peace, rest and healing to the listener.

1958's London By Night is a typically high-class, high quality Julie London album. The standards and original tunes on the disc are strung together in such a way that they form a narrative of a lovelorn woman finding true love, getting dumped, and wandering around sadly until finding romantic redemption in the final song. London specialized in downbeat numbers and even the positive love songs are languid and moody, so they jibe well with the wrist-slashers that make up the majority of the album. Many of London's albums feature a song or two by her husband, Bobby Troup. London By Night is no exception and it features two Troup originals: the opening track, "Well, Sir," and "Just the Way I Am," which closes with the emotionally naked line "What a fool I was to dream that someday you could love me just the way I am"…

Pop standards vocalist/actress Julie London was definitely at a transitional phase in her career when she cut Yummy, Yummy, Yummy (1969) - the final entry in her decade-and-a-half long relationship with Liberty Records. Modern listeners will revel in the obvious kitsch factor of a middle-aged, old-school female who is crooning rock & roll. Rightly so, as the two musical universes rarely collided with a lucrative outcome. However, just below the genre-bending veneer lie interesting interpretations of concurrently well-known selections with the occasional sleeper gem thrown in. The lush and admittedly antiquated orchestration doesn't mask London's smoky and smouldering pipes, and some scores definitely work better than others…

The Very Best of Julie London offers an extensive overview of London's recording career with 50 selections she cut for Liberty Records between 1955 and 1969. The tracks are not newly remastered for the most part, but are taken from EMI's series of import two-fers and the domestic reissues Ron Furmanek and Bob Norberg produced in the early '90s. London was an album artist, not a singles artist - she had only one hit single in her long career - but she was a consistent favorite with adult contemporary and vocal jazz audiences and recorded over 20 LPs. Her albums often sustained a certain mood or assembled songs around a theme, but The Very Best of Julie London chops up her albums and rearranges the songs in no particular order - the repertoire and sequencing seem almost random…

This release presents the complete original album Whatever Julie Wants (1961) by the amazing Julie London. It features a wonderful array of popular songs conducted and arranged by Felix Slatkin.
The LP is complemented here by singer's complete thematic allbum, About The Blues (1957), in which she devotes her sensuous voice to a variety of blues and blues-inspired tunes. This second LP was conducted and arranged by the well-known Russell Garsia. To round out this CD, we have also added four extra Julie London performances from the latter album's sessions, which were originally issued by the Liberty label as singles.