Editorial Review

The party line on most Windham Hill products seems to be that it's either the greatest stuff since wave machines, or that it all sounds alike. Read more

Reviews (48)

Relaxing & enjoyable for all age groups
I have a 4 mth old baby and both he and I enjoy music.He gets a little uptight during changes so I like to play calming music for us both.This CD offers a wide range of beautiful songs.I can see this one playing in our household for many years.

We Luv, Luv, Luv This Album
I play this every night for my daughter (17 months).I often sleep in the same room with her and really look forward to playing this softly.We even keep the CD player on repeat and I still like this.Very soothing and interesting.I highly recommend this for any new parent.

buy more than one!
I first purchased this cd several years ago for myself, it was a wonderful way to relax. When my son came along I put it in his room among other "kids" cds.My son, now age 9,(who won't listen to anymore "kid" cds) absolutely loves it.He has been falling asleep to this wonderful cd for the past 3 years.I loved being able to share "the world" with him through music.Recently we remodeled and unfortunately the cd was chipped! He was heartbroken... so here I am purchasing another!Soothing rhythms, soft voices, wonderful instrumentation. A cd that the entire family will love and not get tired of hearing.Even familiar lullabies are updated very nicely. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 90's    2. Adult Alternative    3. Adult Contemporary    4. Afro-Brazilian    5. Alternative Country    6. Brazilian Jazz    7. Brazilian Pop    8. Children's Collections    9. Contemporary Folk    10. Contemporary Instrumental    11. Crossover Jazz    12. Fusion    13. Int'l & World Music    14. Latin Jazz    15. Lullabies    16. Neo-Bop    17. Neo-Classical    18. New Acoustic    19. Pan-Global    20. Pop   

Features

• Original recording remastered

Reviews (13)

Nina Simone -- one of a kind for all time!
Nina Simone, more widely loved and respected abroad -- particularly in Europe -- then stateside is one of the U.S.'s true unclaimed treasures.This voice is stunning, soul deep, and inhabited with unmistakable force of personality by a singular performer for the ages.Perhaps only Nina Simone heard the bird singing in the gilden cage, but she warbled about it with such natural, eerie, musclar talent that to hear it is to be arrested on the spot.You've probably heard a bunch of these songs before -- she's been ripped off and copied by many performers with just a thimblefull of her prowess and gift (and to dismaying degrees of commercial success) -- but when you hear them it will be like hearing them for the first time.Anthology is chockablock full of one choice cut after another, there's nary a dud in the bunch. Someone with a voice like Simone, who could effortelessly master just about any musical form she tried her hand at -- pop standards, soulful ballads, smoky jazz, throaty R & B -- this is someone who ought to be in your collection if you want to bat with the big boys.TOP NOTCH, THRILLING STUFF -- a diva with the real goods who might not have ended up with her own show in Vegas but a brilliant body of work, that's Nina Simone, and this collection is a fabulous overview of that life's work.

nina, nina, nina
all you need do is listen to DO I MOVE YOU. and ask yourself if the answer is HELL YEAH! NINA PLEASES ME!

Some of the best of Nina's BEST!
This anthology is up there with Nina compilations "The Colpix Years" and "Sugar In My Bowl" (which are available on Amazon - if you don't already own them buy them today!!).
Read more

Subjects:  1. Jazz    2. Jazz Music    3. Jazz Vocals    4. Pop    5. Standards    6. United States of America    7. Vocal Jazz   

Reviews (15)

Love Songs
I really enjoy shopping with Amazon. Everything that I buy is top quality and I have never had a bad experience shopping there. I use to buy my DVD's and my music CD's from two different clubs that charged terribly high prices, but no more why should I when I can buy just about anything I want from Amazon and at very good prices. I love shopping Amazon and will continue to do so.

Great CD
I have this CD at my office and play it at least once a day.It has most of my most beloved Nat King Cole songs.I'd highly recommend it to anyone who likes Nat King Cole.

Nat King Cole was and is THE MAN!
What an awesome singer! I cannot think of an artist whose love songs I would want to listen to more than the "velvet" voice of Nat King Cole. I love every song on this cd. I highly recommend it! Some of today's artists could learn from this fantastic vocalist. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Pop    2. Pop Vocals    3. Popular Music    4. Vocal   

Editorial Review

Pop this on, close your eyes, and you'll be instantly transported back to the Vegas of 1966. The Sands Hotel was still the "class joint" where Sinatra and his Rat Pack buddies partied, held court, and occasionally even performed. This priceless document (Sinatra's first official live album) captures the Chairman of the Board in performance mode, ably supported by conductor-arranger Quincy Jones and Count Basie and his Orchestra. The set list comprises 16 Sinatra classics--including "Come Fly with Me," "One for My Baby (And One More for the Road)," "It Was a Very Good Year," and "Angel Eyes"--along with two Basie instrumentals and some seriously un-P.C. stage banter. Essential. Read more

Features

• Live
• Original recording remastered

Reviews (104)

"My body may be 50, but I'm 28!!!"
Frank Sinatra, as you might expect, gives a flawless performance recorded here at The Sands Hotel in Las Vegas in early 1966. He is ably backed up by none other than the great Count Basie and his band. The effect on the audience is unmistakable: they love the chairman, they love Basie's music; and they can't get enough and cry out for more when the act is drawing to a close.
Sinatra at his best
I bought this as a gift for a drummer I work with. He has trouble with his swing feel, especially west coast style. This recording features the Basie band. No one swings like Basie. Great CD.

Great Sinatra
This is probably the best Sinatra's show, where we can feel how he was the top entertainer in usa. You can almost feel his fisical presence. The sound is great, you have the notion that you are in Las Vegas!! The surround enviroment of the show is all there, you can even hear the dinner plates been picked up from the tables! You are in Vegas. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Pop    2. Pop Vocals    3. Popular Music    4. Traditional Pop    5. Vocal    6. Vocal Jazz   

Editorial Review

This is one of the three all-ballad albums that John Coltrane recorded in late 1962 and early 1963. Johnny Hartman was apparently Coltrane's suggestion, and his deep, dark voice meshes perfectly here with Coltrane's tenor. The material is well-chosen, including definitive readings of "My One and Only Love" and "Lush Life." McCoy Tyner fills out the chords, augmenting the harmonies and keeping the tone of these ballads respectful but not overly sentimental. All the players get to the deep structure of the songs and are not afraid to play in the most essential and elegant manner. This is beautiful jazz. Read more

Features

• Original recording remastered

Reviews (120)

simply the best
it's what cool jazz is ment to be, that voice , that tenor sax...what joy!

Hartman and Coltrane
Very quick service.CD was in very good shape.Good price.What more could you ask for

An Aged Melot Wine for the Mind
There is no shortage of great jazz recordings! The lengends include (and are not limited to): Sarah, Billie, Ella, Nat, Frankie, Tony, and more. Each singer has a distinct sound quality and approach to the sandards as well as thier own.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Ballads    2. Hard Bop    3. Jazz    4. Jazz Music    5. Pop    6. Standards    7. Torch Songs    8. Traditional Pop    9. Vocal Jazz   

Editorial Review

Everyone grows up... even rappers. Pioneering female MC Queen Latifah shows a newfound level of maturity on Read more

Reviews (184)

Just Amazing!A must have!!
I heard her beautiful voice when she sang on her show "Living Single" and just got this CD, WOW!It is just so beautiful I had to come to Amazon to buy extras for birthday presents!!

I knew the Queen was Into music but WOW!
I could listen to this cd over and over again. I love that I can relaxe and sing along. Queens voice is wonderful and so comforting. I am so impressed. I love jazz. I hope she does more

Pleeez! This album is excellent.
Anytime you can put a cd in and play it start to finish without all the blatant sexuality, I would say is excellent.My favorite is simply beautiful and baby get lost.If you don't know any thing about jazz I guess you wouldn't like this album but her covers are well done!!!She doesn't have to be vulgar to show she can sing and is she sexy. Hopefully, she will put out another album that will be just as good. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Adult Contemporary    2. Contemporary R&B    3. Hip-Hop    4. Pop    5. Pop-Rap    6. R&B    7. Rap    8. Torch Songs    9. Vocal Jazz   

Subjects:  1. Blues    2. Contemporary Blues    3. Modern Electric Blues    4. Pop    5. Popular Music    6. Rock/Pop   

Editorial Review

Band leader and lounge kingpin Louis Prima will be best be known for the classic, "Just a Gigolo," immortalized by David Lee Roth for a whole new generation of swingers. But Prima's output went much further: in his day he recorded for Capitol, acted in a movie or two, even owned a golf course. Prima's genius is infectious: lounge, swing, and Dixieland all fuse together into medleys that are fun, dance-worthy, and upbeat. Prima's duets with Keely Smith are the obvious highlights here: "That Ol' Black Magic," "Hey Boy! Hey Girl!," and "I've Got You Under My Skin" are essential Prima tracks. Sure, the cheese factor occasionally runs high, but it is a fun trip. --Read more

Subjects:  1. Dixieland    2. East Coast Blues    3. Jazz    4. Jazz Music    5. Jazz Vocals    6. Jump Blues    7. Pop    8. R&B    9. Swing    10. Traditional Pop    11. United States of America    12. Vocal    13. Vocal/Standards   

Editorial Review

Having long been unfairly dismissed as an ingenious Sinatra impersonator in some critical quarters, it's easy to see why Harry Connick, Jr., has been reluctant to record the sort of pop standards cover album that's become the career refuge of rock artists as diverse as Bryan Ferry and Rod Stewart. But that's exactly what the New Orleans pop revivalist has done here on a slate of familiar chestnuts from the 1950s and '60s. But there's a notable conflict at work between Connick the arranger/conductor and Harry the pop crooner. The former seems eager to infuse his charts with the sort of restless, reinventive musicality he's displayed on recent works as diverse as the stage foray Read more

Subjects:  1. American Popular Song    2. Jazz    3. Jazz Music    4. Pop    5. Traditional Pop    6. Vocal Jazz   

Reviews (14)

He's come a long way baby.....
Listening to this early Cullum recording gives you a timeline for the expression of his talents.You can discern his emerging style in several of the songs, but his youth and inexperience are glaring. The promise of more to come is certainly there, and there is no doubt that you are listening to an exceptional person.When you follow with Catching Tales, it is astounding to witness the explosion that has occurred in the intervening 4 years. I don't know where he will go from here, but this recording gives the listener an historical perspective on where Cullum has come from.

Amazing.Fans of his new albums - NEED - this work
I wasn't aware of this album until I saw it in a cd store the other day.
Amusing
Worth having, has a couple of very funny tunes.But very different from his other two albums. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Jazz    2. Jazz Music    3. Jazz Vocals    4. Pop   

Editorial Review

This five-CD box set soundtrack to filmmaker Ken Burns's 10-part, 19-hour documentary Read more

Features

• Box set
• Original recording remastered

Subjects:  1. Afro-Cuban Jazz    2. Avant-Garde    3. Avant-Garde Jazz    4. Ballads    5. Big Band    6. Bop    7. Box Sets (Audio Only)    8. Classic Female Blues    9. Classic Jazz    10. Cool    11. Crossover Jazz    12. Dance Bands    13. Dixieland    14. Free Jazz    15. Fusion    16. Hard Bop    17. Jazz    18. Jazz Blues    19. Jazz Collections    20. Jazz Music   

Editorial Review

This is an excellent collection of many of the high points of the Manhattan Transfer's first decade, demonstrating both their reach and their grasp as they draw material from swing, modern jazz, and doo-wop into their own distinctive style. There's a tongue-in-cheek cool that connects the swing of Erskine Hawkins's "Tuxedo Junction" to the elemental girl-group harmonies of "Boy from New York City" and the TV themes like "Route 66" and the variations on the "Twilight Zone." More traditional jazz skills, though, are apparent in their renditions of some Jon Hendricks vocal classics. Composer Jimmy Giuffre plays saxophone on their version of his "Four Brothers," a key theme for bandleader Woody Herman, while there are also stellar renditions of Weather Report's "Birdland" and the standard "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square."It's an entertaining collection by a group that's never let itself be confined by the expected. --Read more

Reviews (18)

Fantastic
The ManhattanTransfer has been around for years and listening to this CD brought me right back to my 30's.Love the music its great!!

All the singles are here
Even minor chart successes like "Trickle Trickle" are on this compilation. If you're looking for a complete collection of the Transfer's hits, this is it.

Oooh Wah Oooh Wah Poo Poo Kitty
Bought this for "The Boy From New York City".This is an interesting mix of jazz, pop-you name it!Recommended for anyone with a love for music of any kind.Easy listening. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Adult Contemporary    2. Bop    3. Harmony Vocal Group    4. Jazz    5. Jazz Music    6. Jazz Vocals    7. Pop    8. Vocal Jazz    9. Vocalese   

Subjects:  1. Jazz    2. Jazz Vocals    3. Pop   

Reviews (6)

Remastered and Wonderful
The standards don't get much better than this. One of the best compilations i've heard in a long time. The recordings arecrisp and clean, It's hard to believe that they were done so long ago.BRAVO!!

julie is brilliant!
wow!i thought i knew the very best vocal singers of yesteryear; ella, billie, sarah, judy, barbra, peggy, doris, and now julie!i knew "cry me a river" but until i heard this 2 disc cd i had no idea how wonderful julie was.if you are a fan of the standards this is a must buy.i listen to it day and night.her rendition of the classic standards made me think she should have introduced the songs instead of the original artist!

Review of Julie London 2006 Best of release
The first CD in this 2 CD compilation is quite good, with all the mood provoking sounds here. The second CD is where they have placed all the dreary "am I listening to my Grandparent's album" songs. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Cool    2. Easy Listening    3. Easy Listening/Vocal    4. Pop    5. Standards    6. Torch Songs    7. Traditional Pop    8. Vocal    9. Vocal Jazz    10. Vocal Pop   

Editorial Review

Lizz Wright’s sophomore release, Read more

Reviews (68)

Salty and Sexy, Subtle and Satisfying
Lizz Wright has a new fan--ME! Wright is the perfect blend of my favorite artists. I thought it was impossible to have the best of Me'Shell N'degeOcello, Cassandra Wilson, Tracy Chapman in one voice. But DAMN! Wright is original in her flow and even-tempered in her presentation. Her lyrics make everything in me move and when I listen to her, I cannot stop writing, I cannot stop crying for the real places her work lands in my spirit, in my life space. Poetic silk. This CD is a must-have if you enjoy any of the artists I mentioned, if you enjoy k d lang, Nat "King" Cole, silk and spice, smooth as the sun dips into the ocean at night. I can't wait to get her other releases. Go on, Sister Lizz. You doin' it right!

Rarely is every song on a CD pleasing...
Every song touches the heart and moves the soul.

Dreaming Wide Awake - 4.5 stars
The first review that appears by "Moved by Music" is right on the money with respect to the sound comparison between this, Lizz's second disc & Norah Jones' first.I was hesitant to make such a comparison because I truly feel that on a pure jazz vocalist level, Lizz blows Norah away.Also I did not like the comparisons between SALT & COME AWAY WITH ME because SALT was more of a jazz oriented creation while CAWM was definitely more smooth jazz/pop oriented.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Jazz    2. Pop   

Reviews (34)

Smooth assilk
If you grew up hearing her voice as I did ... you will not be disappointed ... smooth as silk just as I remember ...beautiful

You Take This In the Car, To Remind You Why You Cuddle To Her At Home
Astrud Gilberto may be the most romantic singer Brazil has ever yielded up. She's certainly the most pleasing to hear, whether the setting is a small group or an orchestra, whether it's pure bossa or jazz-inclining pop with the subtle embellishments of her native country. Put her in front of a Stan Getz quartet, a Gil Evans orchestra, a Walter Wanderley organ trio, or even a James Last ensemble, and she evokes a faraway beach that is at once as accessible as the sun and as elusive as the perfect wave. Which is just about what she has been herself in her musical personality---at the moment you think she has reached forth to touch you, she fades back and away at the moment you reach forth to touch her back, as if the yearning she so often exposes requires so much more profound touch to satisfy that you envy without shame the one who wins her love.
Amazing!!!!I want more!!!!!!
This cd is so good I really love it has great tunes, For some how I have never herd of this artist I herd her on the "Some things gotta give" (sound track) I herd "so nice" on that cd I fell in love with it so I went to amazon.com and saw her cd and I love all most every song on the cd!! If you are a fan get this cd if you have never herd of her and you like jazz samba this is the right cd for you "Girl From Ipmaniea" is a good song "Photograph" is one of my favorite... ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Bossa Nova    2. Brazil    3. Brazilian Jazz    4. Brazilian Pop    5. Jazz    6. Jazz Music    7. Jazz Vocals    8. Mood Music    9. Pop    10. Vocal Pop    11. Vocals   

Features

• Enhanced

Reviews (86)

Steve Tyrell
I love this man's throaty singing.My first CD of his 'standards' was great.
Romance is in the Air
Steve Tyrell's warm subdued presence makes him stand out among the other male vocalists releasing albums at the opening of the 21st century. His contemporary styling of heartfelt standards is done in a manner that creates perfect background mood for romance without overpowering or overshadowing that all important moment. Steve's album "This Guy's In Love (Columbia Records)," is filled with a crowd of classics arranged to amplify and make that moment something special, indeed.
Incredible
His style is unique. He is a combination of Frank Sinatra,
Read more

Subjects:  1. Crossover Jazz    2. Jazz    3. Jazz Music    4. Jazz-Pop    5. Pop    6. Standards    7. Traditional Pop    8. Vocal    9. Vocal Jazz    10. Vocal Pop   

Editorial Review

Diana Krall, here with her first GRP album, expands on the delights that populated her 1992 debut, Read more

Reviews (24)

WOW !!!!Diana Krall made me do something unusual !!!
What can I say?Diana is making me buy an entire album and this is the first time that I am buying albums as Christmas gifts.I am giving her album and Micheal Duble's self titled album to my closest friends.I send gifts that are high quality and thoughful gifts that I would personally enjoy (Just in case they are sent back).Both albums are kick ***, making this a banner year.All this and QE on Bravo TV!Color me happy!

A real jazz album
Whatever you may think of Diana's more recent crossover music (which I think is brilliant), this early album demonstrates clearly that her music is rooted in jazz. There is no crossover here - it's pure jazz. Diana sings and plays piano, backed by a small but select band comprising a bass player (sometimes Ray Brown, sometimes Christian McBride), a drummer (Lewis Nash) and a ten saxophonist (Stanley Turrentine). Stanley and Diana
Oddly, little mention in the customer reviews of Stanley Turrentine's presence on the recording.It's what makes this album different from --and hotter than --any other of Ms. Krall's fabulous work.Example: No doubt about it --Diana and the band supremely cook on the song "I Love Being Here with You" from her latest Paris live recordings.But on this version, Turrentine's tenor sax steers the tune up the onramp and into overdrive.He's jazzy enough to be interesting but stays sane and faithful to the melody.Which matches Diana's musical style, I think.But whether it's Stanley Turrentine, Ray Brown, Christian McBride, Jeff Hamilton, John Clayton, etc., it's testament to Ms. Krall's ability to attract and lead such superb associates.And at such a tender age, though she was no overnight sensation at this point, having played professionally since her teens.Read more

Subjects:  1. Bop    2. Contemporary Jazz    3. Jazz    4. Jazz Music    5. Pop    6. Standards    7. Swing    8. Torch Songs    9. Traditional Pop    10. Vocal Jazz   

Editorial Review

Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker first became aware of each other in 1940 when the former was playing in Cab Calloway's band and the latter with Jay McShann. Two years later they were both living in New York City and a real friendship developed. By 1945 they were recording and gigging together, culminating in this Town Hall concert on June 22, 1945. These recordings languished for sixty years as acetates that weren't even known to exist in their entirety. That this set captures these two formidable players in their ascendancy and with such clarity is a staggering find. Here, with host Symphony Sid announcing the songs (this would have been for his radio show, but apparently never ended up in his possessions), an important chapter in American music is now restored. By the end of the summer of '45 Gillespie and Parker went their separate ways, both emerging with their own bands and reaching new heights of commercial success. Read more

Reviews (27)

Where have you been??

Dizzy Atmosphere
Just when the listener thinks that Be Bop has been worn out and has little else to offer, we are presented with lost recordings that, once again, show what all of the fuss was about.This is Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie at the top of their game, giving a seminar on flatted fifths and fast playing.

The Dead Sea Scrolls of Jazz
I gasped when I heard this CD because it was so difficult to believe that a recording made 60 years ago would sound fresh. I can only conjecture how the Town Hall audience felt.Though everyone knows Parker and Gillespie changed the course of 20th-century music -- and beyond, and Bebop is every bit as important as Beethoven's destruction of the fetters of the Classical period, hearing it at its inception is still seismic.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Afro-Cuban Jazz    2. Bop    3. Jazz    4. Pop    5. United States of America    6. Vocal Jazz   

Reviews (60)

The popular tracks
Many greatest hits compilations by current bands are worthwhile because they owed their success to radio and their best work was released to radio. "Greatest hits" does not always equate with "best of" and this compilation is an excellent example of that. Many of these songs I truly enjoy. Do many songs better than "What A Wonderful World" exist? The man owns "Hello Dolly" and "Mack the Knife," and "La Vie en Rose" is a timeless, beautiful song. However, it is difficult to fathom songs such as "Skokiaan," "The Dummy Song" and "Chloe" were ever hits. They aren't especially good songs and I assume MCA included them because they lacked rights to better material. I agree with the reviewers, who have directed readers to other Satchmo releases. In addition to those recommendations, the one I would suggest is the "Jazz `Round Midnight" series release, simply titled "Louis Armstrong." "All-Time Greatest Hits" isn't a terrible CD, though it does not give a non-fan an idea of just how great some of Mr. Armstrong's music is.

EXCELLENT!
This cd has all my favorites! I love Louis, and all his cheesy, but happy songs. It's good car music, and backround music for when your working or eating. I LOVE IT!

Cookie Cutter Commercial
I have not listened to this CD. I must agree with another reviewer that Satchel Mouth is one of our lasting cultural icons. There's no need to talk about his-- I was about to say "mastery of the music," but it's more about soul than mastery. The music was just there. My comments have to do with the music selection. These cuts are his greatest hits all right, they're pleasant and enjoyable etc. They are AM Radio Hits on a Disc! If you love Louis' music, I encourage you to call up "Ambassador Satch" and listen to a few of those cuts, too. That music or his "W.C. Handy" disc and some others tell the tale of his music better than Mack the Knife, much as I--and you, no doubt--enjoy it. Give them a spin and enjoy the real roots of Louis. Even the re-mastered "Original Hot Five" and "Hot Seven" discs--cut in the 20s--are great. You might like these "not for everybody" less commercial discs even better! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Classic Jazz    2. Dixieland    3. Jazz    4. Jazz Music    5. Jazz Traditional    6. New Orleans Jazz    7. Pop    8. Swing    9. Traditional Pop    10. Vocal Jazz