Best Vocal Jazz

Darren, whose voice is a closer match to Tony Bennett 's than to Sinatra's, is supported by an excellent orchestra, a cast of A-list arrangers including Alan Broadbent , Sammy Nestico , and Marty Paich , and a top-to-bottom collection of great songs.

Mel Torme is so famous for writing "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)," it's surprising that he never recorded a full Christmas album before 1992's Christmas Songs .

Rediscover a classic with Diana Krall's sensational 1993 Justin Time debut, and discover where it all started! And while her later recordings reveal a consistently maturing artist, this 1992 debut album shows that the Nanaimo, British Columbia, native had the goods right from the get-go. In her mid-20s here, Krall sings with honesty, subtlety, and persuasion while playing the piano with head-shaking authority, both as accompanist--she offers amazing asides in between vocal phrases--and as an absolutely A-one improviser. Working with bass ace John Clayton and the superb drummer Jeff Hamilton, Krall presents one winner after another. After a nicely enunciated vocal--she slides into phrases much like Sarah Vaugh--the pianist cooks in her Oscar Peterson-meets-Gene Harris style, playing hip ideas that fall easily on the ear, underwritten by her rock-solid feel for time.

Unreleased until 1997, these tapes were recorded during two stops on Sinatra's brief Australian tour of 1959, during which he was backed by the quintet of jazz vibraphonist Red Norvo.

Charlie Recaido: guitar; formerly with the group Summer Kevin Teves: guitar BAND_MEMBERS: Charles Michael Brotman Kevin Teves Charlie Recaido.

This is the perfect setting for acoustic guitarist Earl Klugh, playing strong melodies (including such standards as "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes," "Laura," "Mona Lisa" and "Two for the Road") while joined by strings and several horns in an orchestra arranged and conducted by Dave Mathews.

Possessing an uncanny blend of exuberance and creativity, he combined virtuosic declarations with a talent for the subtlest shifts in phrasing and melodic variation, creating rich emotional statements that could hint at loss in the midst of joy or the promise of better things in the most sorrowful blues. The band expands here, to the Hot Seven and larger ensembles, and it gains soloists who applied Armstrong's lessons to their own instruments--musicians such as pianist Earl Hines and trombonist Jack Teagarden --but all come under the imprint of Armstrong's flowering genius, as both trumpeter and singer. There are alternate takes of the later material on Columbia Legacy (including Louis in New York and St. Louis Blues ), so collectors will want both.

Fronted by pianist Thomas Lauderdale, Pink Martini is the real article--a band that approaches the music with unwavering seriousness yet never forgets the fun at the heart of it.

All have the guitar-led sound just like Django Reinhardt, while Clearwater and Pearl Django add the violin that also helped make the Django sound distinctive (in his case, most famously by Stephane Grappelli). Jazz vocalist Connie Evingson sings with three different Hot Club groups: Pearl Django, Parisota Hot Club and Clearwater Hot Club.

The classic hits of Frank Sinatra are presented with style and grace in an intimate jazz trio setting.

Make It Phat, Baby!

Maiden Voyage is a masterpiece of the school, with Hancock's enduring compositions like "Maiden Voyage" and "Dolphin Dance" mingling creative tension and calm repose with strong melodies and airy, suspended harmonies that give form to his evocative sea imagery.

While many of Morgan's later sessions for Blue Note would find him paired with saxophonist Hank Mobley , The Sidewinder features then up-and-coming tenor player Joe Henderson , plus Detroit pianist Barry Harris , bassist Bob Cranshaw, and drummer Billy Higgins.

For this recording, parts of which were recorded in Chicago, Curt enlists the help of top Jazz Musicians such as: Larry Novak (Piano), Rusty Jones (Drums), Nick Tountas (Bass) Ricky Malichi (Drums), Ruben Gutierrez (Keyboards) and Francisco Anguiano (Bass). Curt plays from Sambas & Bossa Novas to Hip Grooves and Chord Solos (an art form that is almost lost today). This album, parts of which were recorded in Chicago, presents the virtuosity of jazz guitarist Curt Warren.

Enrique Chia has a total of 20 recordings which have sold very successfully in the United States and Latin America.

Oscar Peterson and his six-piece combo are all business on Peterson's 1995 Christmas recording, extolling the virtues of Peterson's intelligent and seductive keyboard work as well as those of his knowing sidemen. Peterson can be as sentimental as anyone , for example, on "White Christmas," while also slowing a down-tempo melody even more to create an intoxicating vista.

Oscar Peterson and his six-piece combo are all business on Peterson's 1995 Christmas recording, extolling the virtues of Peterson's intelligent and seductive keyboard work as well as those of his knowing sidemen. Peterson can be as sentimental as anyone , for example, on "White Christmas," while also slowing a down-tempo melody even more to create an intoxicating vista.

Instrumental jazz for the holidays featuring Beegie Adair on piano, Denis Solee on tenor saxophone and produced by guitarists, Jack Jezzro and Brendan Harkin.

Sanders will be forever known as the tenor saxophonist who stood beside John Coltrane during the last years of the ultimate tenor saxophonist's life, and on this 2 CD set, five of the 12 compositions are by Coltrane.

Maiden Voyage is a masterpiece of the school, with Hancock's enduring compositions like "Maiden Voyage" and "Dolphin Dance" mingling creative tension and calm repose with strong melodies and airy, suspended harmonies that give form to his evocative sea imagery.