Splendor Grass

Pink Martini follow the around-the-world-in-a-dozen-songs thrills of Hey Eugene! with Splendor in the Grass, a mellower, simpler set of small pleasures. These are relative terms, however; the group's music is still well-traveled, with China Forbes singing in five languages (English, Spanish, Neapolitan, French, and Italian) instead of the six or so on Eugene!. However, Pink Martini opt for a more unified sound here, one that draws on the more straightforward lounge-pop of their debut, Sympathique, and the mellowness of '60s and '70s pop.

Nominated for both a Grammy and an Academy Award, the soundtrack combines lush, reflective incidental music with mid-20th-century big-band compositions, and Isham skillfully integrates these themes as they relate to the contrasting lifestyles of the film’s central characters.

Best Of…1958-1980: Come and Get Me is a generous collection of Jackie DeShannon's biggest hits, important album cuts, and obscure non-LP singles. The keys to DeShannon's talent lie not only in her own songwriting and ability to handle non-originals as if they were her own compositions, but her versatility as a performer. DeShannon's arsenal of orchestrated pop, rockabilly, the Phil Spector-inspired girl group sound, soul, gospel, folk-rock, and country-pop is rivaled by few. She could also pull off sentimental ballads and was believable when in the singer/songwriter mode. There are many peaks in this anthology, including the proto folk-rock of "Needles and Pins" (written by Sonny Bono and Jack Nitzsche) and "When You Walk in the Room" (a sole composition from 1964 that sounds like a Byrds tune as carried out by the Ronettes), as well as the soulful rocker "It's Love Baby" (which features a hot guitar solo) and the initial recorded version of "Bette Davis Eyes" (co-written by DeShannon and later a number one hit for Kim Carnes). A 4,000-word essay by longtime fan Glenn A. Baker rounds out the package.

Gerry Mulligan's quartet recorded this studio date about seven years before his death, and it's a beautiful statement of where the refined, seasoned veteran of cool jazz was at in the later years of his life. A young Bill Charlap on the piano (rare unto itself in that Mulligan often excluded a keyboardist) was essentially introduced to the jazz world with this album, and proved to be a perfect foil for the baritone saxophonist's leaner notions. Charlap is also quite substantive, never grabbing the spotlight for himself, but tastefully adding chord progressions and comping to Mulligan's world-class musings. Only David Amram's patient California-styled "Splendor in the Grass" is not penned by Mulligan, with the rest of the set spilt between Brazilian songs, a little bop, and mostly the laid-back easygoing jazz that the leader specialized in…