Released in early 1961, Sinatra's Swingin' Session!!! is one of the last albums the Chairman of the Board made for Capitol before leaving for Reprise. Like most of Sinatra's Capitol recordings, this one shows the singer at the peak of his vocal and interpretive abilities. Nelson Riddle's hard-swinging arrangements of standards like Rodgers and Hart's "Blue Moon," Irving Berlin's "Always," and Cole Porter's "You Do Something to Me" would leave most vocalists in the dust, but Sinatra masters them without ever seeming to break a sweat.

Sara Colman, the acclaimed UK singer, songwriter and composer, releases Ink On A Pin, her new album celebrating the music of Joni Mitchell, with striking new arrangements and poignant re-workings of seven songs from one of her most significant influences. Following her much-admired 2018 release, What We're Made Of, noted by American critic Ted Gioia as 'worthy of your attention', Colman's latest project amplifles her inventiveness and versatility, as she weaves elements of folk, Americana and jazz into expressive new arrangements of iconic songs drawn from Mitchell's celebrated catalogue. Inspired by her love of classic songwriting and instinctive improvisational energy, Mitchell's work has long had a profound impact on Colman. "My awareness of Joni's unfailing ability to write songs that are uniquely personal and yet universal has deepened as I discover more about what inspired her to write them, as they have inspired countless jazz musicians before me. Often with Joni, in writing about something in her life, she seems to encapsulate the very thing that you yourself are experiencing. Genius."

All The Way (2018). The debut album from Russian vocalist Alexandra Shakina, performing standards with backing from the Massimo Farao' Trio.
Mood Indigo (2019). Alexandra Shakina's second release for Japanese Venus label. Backed by Massimo Farao' on piano, Nicola Barbon on bass and Gianni Cazzola on drums, sings "Isn't It Romantic?", "Let's Face The Music And Dance", "Mood Indigo", "I'm A Fool To Want You", and more.

This CD brings back the second of two Riverside albums cut by singer Billie Poole. Other than a single from a few years earlier, the two sets were Poole's entire recording legacy. Poole was an expressive singer who felt most comfortable on blues-oriented material. For this date, she was assisted by an unbeatable rhythm section (guitarist Kenny Burrell, pianist Junior Mance, bassist Bob Cranshaw, and drummer Mickey Roker) and performed mostly vintage material, with a few more recent songs added for variety. Poole sounds fine on such tunes as "Confessin' the Blues," "Stormy Weather," "Alone Together," and even "God Bless the Child."

This pairing of two totally idiosyncratic vocalists acquired legendary status over the decades in which it had been out of print. But the proof is in the listening, and frankly it doesn't represent either artist's best work. There is certainly a powerful, often sexy rapport between the two – Charles in his sweet balladeering mode, Carter with her uniquely keening, drifting high register – and they definitely create sparks in the justly famous rendition of "Baby, It's Cold Outside." The main problem is in Marty Paich's string/choir arrangements, which too often cross the line into treacle, whereas his charts for big band are far more listenable. Moreover, Charles' sweetness can get a bit cloying, too, although some of the old grit emerges on "Takes Two to Tango." Some reissues add the great, rare B-side to the "Unchain My Heart" single, "But on the Other Hand Baby," and two excellent if unrelated album cuts, "I Never See Maggie Alone" (1964) and "I Like to Hear It Sometime" (1966).

My Romance is an album by the U.S. singer-songwriter Carly Simon, released in 1990. It is her fourteenth studio album, and her sixteenth album overall, as well as being her second album devoted to standards. The album peaked at No. 46 on the Billboard 200, and remained on the chart for 17 weeks. Simon's version of In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning from this album was featured in the hit 1993 film Sleepless in Seattle, as well as being included on the film's soundtrack album.

Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett sang before 2014's Cheek to Cheek – she popped up on his 2011 collection Duets II – so this standards album isn't exactly out of the blue. Furthermore, the two aren't such an odd pair…

The Danish Radio Big Band joins Curtis Stigers in this wonderful evening of concerts celebrating the legendary Frank Sinatra concerts that took place at The Sands Hotel in Las Vegas. This concert recording presents the most popular evergreens from the American songbook classics of the 1950s and 1960s.

The Girl Singer, Rosemary Clooney's volume in the Bluebird's Best series, spotlights her talents as a swinging post-big band vocalist between 1958 and 1961, when she was basically hitless but still recording some great material (including many arrangements by Nelson Riddle and excellent duet albums recorded with Bing Crosby and Pérez Prado). Although 16 tracks for a digital-era compilation is basically short shrift, there are highlights galore - starting with "Clap Hands! Here Comes Rosie," a nice piece of fluff that introduced an album of the same name. Also great is an update (with Crosby) of "How About You?" to include references to Gypsy, Marlon Brando, and the Pittsburgh Pirates (Crosby was a co-owner). The two tracks with Prado find the exuberant Clooney matching the outboard orchestra…