Susannah Mccorkle

Noted for the beauty of her voice and ability to freshen up the most tired lyric, Susannah McCorkle left behind an impressive and large body of work at the time of her death in 2001. Ballad Essentials concentrates onMcCorkle's softer side, collecting a dozen pieces recorded for Concord between 1983 and 2000. A remarkable cadre including Ken Peplowski, Emily Remler, and Bucky Pizzarelli join her on a variety of standards by Cole Porter, Rodgers & Hart, and the Gershwin brothers.

There's something incredibly tragic and ironic in the strange reality that finds a beloved jazz singer taking her own life just after compiling a collection of her best loved interpretations. So loved by so many, but perhaps – as she wrote in her liner notes for her wistful reading of "If I Only Had a Heart" – she was one of those people who "have trouble experiencing their own emotions and yearn to feel something, anything." Also in this spirited mix of classics is "Look For the Silver Lining," and her version is, of course, cheery.

Singer, songwriter, and pianist Neil Sedaka enjoyed two distinct periods of commercial success in two slightly different styles of pop music: first, as a teen pop star in the late '50s and early '60s, then as a singer of more mature pop/rock in the '70s. In both phases, Sedaka, a classically trained pianist, composed the music for his hits, which he sang in a boyish tenor.

The title My Standards does not mean that this CD is a play list of standard entries in the Great American Songbook. Rather, the standards are tunes that Karen Oberlin has listened to and adopted over the years, from Irving Berlin's to Elvis Costello's. Not only does the variety of music make this album refreshing, but so does the way it is presented. Oberlin's style leans to cabaret with a smattering of musical comedy. Yet she takes fascinating turns with the music within that framework…