Two of singer Chris Connor's finest Atlantic albums are reissued in full on this single CD. The laid-back yet coolly emotional jazz singer is heard backed by top-notch rhythm sections (with either Ralph Sharon or Stan Free being the pianist/arranger) and occasional horns (trumpeter Joe Wilder, flutist Sam Most, tenors Al Cohn and Lucky Thompson, flutist Bobby Jaspar and Al Epstein on English horn and bass clarinet) adding some short solos. Connor (then around 30) was in her prime, and her renditions of such songs as "Poor Little Rich Girl," "Lonely Town," "I'm Shooting High," "Moonlight in Vermont," and even "Johnny One Note" are memorable and sometimes haunting.

Recorded for a small French label soon after Simone relocated to Paris, Fodder On My Wings found the artist in a difficult period in her life. Not only was Simone feeling isolated in a new country, but her mental illness was worsening and her family life was fractured. However, she channelled her despair into writing some of her most powerful material, including ‘I Was Just A Stupid Dog To Them’ and the near-title-track, ‘Fodder In Her Wings’, which Pitchfork included in their roundup of Simone’s most iconic songs.

In form, Peggy Lee's fall 1961 studio LP If You Go is a concept album in which the theme, as suggested by the title, is love that doesn't work out. Over the course of 12 songs, the singer begins as a romantic philosopher ("As Time Goes By"), then immediately begins to worry that her love affair may be in trouble ("If You Go"). Soon, her fears are confirmed ("Say It Isn't So"). By the start of the second half, she is trying to accommodate herself to separation ("I'm Gonna Laugh You Out of My Life"), but by the end she has acknowledged the pain ("Here's That Rainy Day") and returned to philosophy with her hard-won wisdom about romance ("Smile")…

With his first holiday-themed album, 2020's The Pianoman at Christmas, Jamie Cullum strikes a festive balance between swinging traditional pop and heartfelt singer/songwriter introspection. It's a balance the singer and pianist has been perfecting ever since breaking through in the early 2000s, moving between urbane re-interpretations of jazz standards and his own lyrical pop/rock originals. It's also a formula that has helped him remain a Top 20 chart regular in the U.K. with albums like 2014's Interlude and 2019's Taller. The Pianoman at Christmas makes the most of these skills as Cullum brings all of his varied experience to bear on a set of original holiday songs.

Norma Deloris Egstrom (May 26, 1920 – January 21, 2002), known professionally as Peggy Lee, was an American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, composer, and actress, in a career spanning six decades. From her beginning as a vocalist on local radio to singing with Benny Goodman's big band, she forged a sophisticated persona, evolving into a multi-faceted artist and performer…

Besides cool playing and his uniquely smoky singing, Mose has great taste in material. "Hey Good Lookin'" fits right in with revisited versions of "I Love the Life I Live," "I Ain't Got Nobody" and "Baby Please Don't Go," complete with what the singer himself calls his distinctive "involuntary groan" during the piano solo. Teo Macero's intimate production makes it feel like you're right there in the studio.

Maria João is an extraordinary, skilled jazz vocalist. Her stylings can be mesmerizing. And her accompanist, Mario Laginha, is spectacular.

Ella Swings Lightly is a 1958 studio album by the American jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald, recorded with the Marty Paich Dek-tette. Ella also worked with Marty Paich on her 1967 album Whisper Not. The album features a typical selection of jazz standards from this era, songs from musicals like Frank Loesser's If I Were a Bell, and a famous jazz instrumental vocalised by Ella, Roy Eldridge's Little Jazz. This album won Ella the 1960 Grammy award for the Best Improvised Jazz Solo…