The aptly titled The Warm Sound reunites Frances Wayne with husband and arranger Neal Hefti, adding to the equation a wonderful support unit including tenorist Al Cohn, guitarist Billy Mure, pianist Hank Jones, and flautist Jerome Richardson to yield one of the singer's most delightful and consistent sessions. Hefti keeps his more extravagant impulses in check here, creating a series of sophisticated but appealingly simple arrangements that underscore the breathy appeal of Wayne's vocals. Likewise, warhorses including "'Round Midnight" and "Prelude to a Kiss" prove particularly well-matched to her sexy but sweet persona.

This two-CD set (a reissue of an earlier two-LP set plus six previously unreleased numbers) brings back a memorable Carnegie Hall concert that both features and pays tribute to Ella Fitzgerald. The great singer is joined on a few numbers by a Chick Webb reunion band that has a few of the original members (plus an uncredited Panama Francis on drums). Although the musicians do not get much solo space (why wasn't trumpeter Taft Jordan featured?), the music is pleasing. Fitzgerald performs three exquisite duets with pianist Ellis Larkins and then sits out while the Jazz at the Philharmonic All-Stars romp on a few jams and a ballad medley. Trumpeter Roy Eldridge's emotional flights take honors, although tenorman Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis and trombonist Al Grey are also in good form. Fitzgerald comes out for the second half of the show and sings 14 numbers with guitarist Joe Pass (including a pair of tender duets) and the Tommy Flanagan trio.

Milton + esperanza – a new album by Brazilian legend Milton Nascimento and decorated musician/composer esperanza spalding – will be released August 9 on Concord Records. Recorded in Brazil over the course of 2023, Milton + esperanza is a dream-come-true collaboration and musical representation of a friendship that was first kindled nearly 15 years ago. The album features 16 tracks that celebrate and reimagine five of Nascimento’s beloved classics, newly written originals by spalding, and fascinating interpretations of The Beatles’ “A Day In The Life” and Michael Jackson’s “Earth Song” among other works that lovingly explore the music of Brazil and far beyond. Special guest appearances include Paul Simon, Dianne Reeves, Lianne La Havas, Maria Gadú, Tim Bernardes, Carolina Shorter, Shabaka Hutchings and more. Milton + esperanza sparkles with duets between these two iconic voices, exquisite musicianship and what spalding identifies as a central theme of the album: the importance of younger generations creating with, learning from, and building new worlds with elders.

A gifted vocalist whose instrument is both strong and sensual, British jazz singer Malia was born into a family of mixed African and English heritage in the small East African country of Malawi, which borders Mozambique, Tanzania, and Zambia. Malia had limited exposure to music growing up - her neighborhood could only tune in two radio stations (one in the native language of Chewa; the other in English), and her father's record collection was dominated by the Beatles. That changed when political unrest forced her family to flee Malawi and relocate to London when Malia was 14 years old. She took great interest in the rich musical landscape that surrounded her, immersing herself in the dance-oriented new wave sounds dominating the English music scene. The music of Sarah Vaughan and Billie Holiday soon attracted her and transformed her worldview, as she was introduced to influential Black artists for the first time…

60 years have passed since the release of a recording that would change Swedish jazz forever. Bill Evans, with his incredible touch and mastery of harmony has made an undeniable imprint on jazz musicians all over the world - and through his collaboration with Monica Zetterlund on "Waltz for Debby" in 1964, a new era for Scandinavian music was born.Impressions of Evans is an effort to pay tribute to this - a gesture of gratitude for making pine trees and 5th Avenue come together in a remarkably seamless, beautiful way and for being the perfect example of how one plus one sometimes equals three.

You have to admire New York Voices' diversity – this is a jazz vocal group that has embraced everything from modal post-bop and Brazilian jazz to Stevie Wonder pearls. And how many artists have devoted an entire album to jazz interpretations of Paul Simon tunes? Not everything the Voices have recorded is great, but more often than not, their sense of adventure and open-mindedness have served them well. After paying tribute to pop-rocker Simon in 1997, the Voices make big band music the main focus of Sing, Sing, Sing. This time, they are backed by a big band and turn their attention to gems associated with swing icons like Benny Goodman ("Sing, Sing, Sing," "Don't Be That Way"), Duke Ellington ("In A Mellow Tone"), Woody Herman ("Early Autumn"), and Artie Shaw ("Stardust"). Although many of these classics came out of the Swing Era, Sing, Sing, Sing also has its share of post-World War II gems. Ralph Burns' lovely "Early Autumn" is a gem that Herman recorded in 1948, when he was exploring bop with his Second Herd and the Four Brothers. And "Orange Colored Sky," which was a major hit for Nat "King" Cole in 1950, is quite relevant to the CD's big band theme because Cole recorded it with the Stan Kenton Orchestra.

If this is blues, it's blues in the Billie Holiday sense, not the Muddy Waters one. This is one of Nina Simone's more subdued mid-'60s LPs, putting the emphasis on her piano rather than band arrangements. It's rather slanted toward torch-blues ballads like "Strange Fruit," "Trouble in Mind," Billie Holiday's own composition "Tell Me More and More and Then Some," and "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out." Simone's then-husband, Andy Stroud, wrote "Be My Husband," an effective adaptation of a traditional blues chant. By far the most impressive track is her frantic ten-minute rendition of the traditional "Sinnerman," an explosive tour de force that dwarfs everything else on the album.

In 1939 Lewis Allan's song "Strange Fruit" was a focal point of Billie Holiday's performances, a grimly poetic evocation of lynching delivered with tremendous dramatic power. It was so pointed a protest, however, that Columbia refused to record it. Milt Gabler arranged to record it for Commodore, his independent jazz label, and when it was paired with the sensual "Fine and Mellow," it became Holiday's first hit record. This two-CD set includes all the takes from the 1939 and 1944 sessions, and they're some of Holiday's finest moments in the recording studio, combining first-rate material and sympathetic support that includes pianist Eddie Heywood, drummer Sid Catlett, and trombonist Vic Dickenson. Holiday's vocal and interpretive skills were seldom as beautifully balanced as they are here.

Though her recordings for Chick Corea's Return to Forever provide a better introduction to her vocal talents, Stories to Tell is an excellent outing by Flora Purim and friends. Assisted by a cast of jazz/fusion all-stars led by husband Airto Moreira, Purim shows off the wide range of her abilities: from wordless vocal soaring to songs with lyrics in English and Portuguese, from uptempo percussion-driven workouts to beautiful ballads. In addition to Airto, the assembled cast includes bassists Miroslav Vitous and Ron Carter, keyboard wunderkind George Duke, guitarists Earl Klugh and Oscar Castro-Neves, and trombonist Raul de Souza. Also, Carlos Santana turns in one of his patented sizzling guitar solos on "Silver Sword." With material from Antonio Carlos Jobim, Vitous, Milton Nascimento, McCoy Tyner, and Purim herself, this is an album worth savoring.

This 1992 album was Abbey Lincoln's third for Verve and another fine display of her musical vision. The set consists primarily of her own compositions. The arrangements vary throughout, depending on the needs of each song. Lincoln is supported by her core trio, with guest spots by trombonist J.J. Johnson, tenor saxophonist Stanley Turrentine, the Staple Singers, and the Noel Singers, a group made up of children. Lincoln revisits a couple numbers from earlier in her career, "Rainbow" and "People in Me." Her interpretive skills and emotional commitment to the material are such that she can even take on a familiar standard like "A Child Is Born" and make it her own. It's gratifying to see a major jazz label allowing Lincoln's musical vision to flourish and grow.

By 1968, Norwegian jazz singer Karin Krog was already an international star. She had already won her country's most prestigious jazz award, the Buddy, had performed in the U.S. with Claire Fischer and Don Ellis, and had won a Talent Deserving Wider Recognition award in the 1966 Down Beat poll. She had also recorded three albums under her own name by this time. The recording of Joy with then-young lions Arild Andersen on bass, Svein (Jon) Christensen on drums, saxophonist Jan Garbarek, pianist Terje Bjorklund and percussionist Espen Rud signified a change in direction, from her previously straight swing and bop performance method. The set opens provocatively, even shockingly for the time with Annette Peacock's "Mr. Joy," a paean to a personal "toy" driven by Bjorklund's modal piano…