Nancy Wilson

Billed as the 50th album by this 50-year-old singer, Nancy Wilson's Forbidden Lover is an attempt to contemporize her sound, with arrangements that recall Luther Vandross and the Earth, Wind & Fire horn section. The title track, a duet with Carl Anderson, seems intended to heat up the R&B charts and, if it did, there would be other tracks to follow.

Nancy Wilson's unimpeachable combination of high sophistication and artistic substance was tailor-made for entertaining both the high-rollers and rubber-neckers assembled at the Sands Hotel & Casino's Copa Room for this August 1968 performance. She began with a delightful tweak of any star-gazers in the room, dedicating the opener to a "specific" (but unspecified) group in attendance at the show, then launching into a bustling version of "Hello, Young Lovers." Although Wilson had been sneaking contemporary pop songs on to her LPs for several years ("Sunny," "Ode to Billie Joe," "Goin' out of My Head"), she was undoubtedly mindful of the preferences of a nightclub audience, and avoided most of the crossover feel…

The Music for Lovers series from EMI and Blue Note spotlights the balladic nature and romantic side of artists who have recorded for its associated labels. Nancy Wilson may not get her due as a jazz vocalist, but as a romantic balladeer she has few peers, with a voice that communicates romance and sensuality. The 12 selections come from her best albums, including…