Yesterday When i Was Young

That's Just the Way I Want to Be, recorded in 1970, is one of Blossom Dearie's rarer sessions. The New York cabaret singer adapted pretty well to changing times, stretching out on atmospheric songs that sound familiar to any fans of singer/songwriter or folk-rock forms. The title-track opener is a good start, her own composition (one of nine here, most of them collaborations) and one that nicely illustrates her outsider status - a plus, as far as rock audiences were concerned. Brian Gascoigne's floating arrangement makes good use of vibes and flute, and his charts wisely stay out of the way, except on one dated arrangement for Dearie's "Long Daddy Green" (it has the same muddy sound as the spots for Schoolhouse Rock, which Dearie contributed to)…

El-P, aka El Producto, is one of hip-hop's most obstinate and adventurous pioneers, combining a lo-fi old-school aesthetic with a progressive rock musician's inclination to push boundaries. He has never succumbed to the demands of corporate rap, instead choosing to pursue his own decidedly non-commercial direction. In the mid-'90s, he developed a strong reputation with the groundbreaking trio Company Flow, a band whose achievements include El-P-produced LP Funcrusher Plus on Rawkus Records, a label considered by many one of the best for intelligent hip-hop. Over the group's auspicious stint together, he proved he was himself capable of intense lyricism as well as sonic production so powerful it could stand on its own.

Up until he suffered a stroke at age 70 in 1996, singer Mel Tormé continued to improve with age and seemed to have inexhaustible energy. This four-CD set from Rhino does a fine job of covering Tormé's pre-Concord output, although the omission of his Concord work of 1986-1995 is unfortunate for that catalog contains many of Tormé's most exciting recordings. In general, the earlier selections (some of which were with his vocal group the Mel-Tones) feature Tormé on hip (for the period) swing tunes and ballads. Things greatly improve once the singer reaches the year 1975 and there are enough high points throughout the set to justify its purchase by Tormé's many fans. Three previously unreleased selections (best is "Walkin' Shoes" with Shorty Rogers in 1962) are a plus and the colorful 84-page booklet is quite definitive.

Locked out of the singles charts for the past seven years, Shirley Bassey finally returned with this collection of "contemporary" standards, including her British Top Five single "Something." (Bassey, who first heard the song when Peggy Lee sang it, apparently didn't even know it was a Beatles tune until just before recording it.) To parallel the modern material, Johnny Harris' arrangements add an upfront electric bass and hang-loose drumkit to the heavy strings and brass. Of course, Bassey was never a jazz singer, so she makes the transition from traditional pop to contemporary rock with an ease more comparable to Barbra Streisand than Peggy Lee. There are a few jazzy rock standards ("Light My Fire," "Spinning Wheel," "Something") plus plenty of latter-day show tunes ("Easy to Be Hard," "What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life,") and a few '60s vocal pieces ("The Sea and Sand," "My Way," "Yesterday When I Was Young")…