There are major songwriters whose names are as well known as those of the singers of their songs, and there are others who are largely unknown, requiring a list of [more]

After several years of hearing criticism from the jazz press about his decision to break up his trio and become a pop singer, Nat "King" Cole was persuaded [more]

Her best hits, including the peppy "Buttons & Bows." ~ Bil Carpenter, All Music Guide

Of the several Christmas LPs Johnny Mathis has recorded, this one gets the nod. With empathetic arrangements by Percy Faith, it's impossible to say how many babies were born the [more]

Chances are that when Andy Williams released his first holiday album in 1963, he had no idea that his name would soon become synonymous with Christmas. The success of the album [more]

The lineup of 16 Most Requested Songs of Christmas is a little uneven, vascillating between the sublime and the merely adequate, but the best moments of the [more]

While most of Stan Kenton's recordings in the 1950s tend to be complex and sometimes bombastic, his versions of standards could often be sentimental and very melodic. This LP [more]

Here's a question for the television quiz show Jeopardy. Is the jazz vocalist Mel Torme better known for his swinging uptempo songs or for his lovely [more]

Part of Bluebird's very admirable reissue of all of Fats Waller's 1934-42 Victor recordings, this three-CD set has the [more]

Tenor-saxophonist Stanley Turrentine always had his own immediately recognizable sound. A soulful improviser, "Mr. T" played R&B early in his career (including [more]

Tread cautiously when the title of an album starts off with the phrase "the best of." It's not that the music on the album will be lacking, but that [more]

Originally released in August 1968, The Best Of Nat "King" Cole (Capitol 2944) was reissued in 1980 (Capitol 16036). ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide

More than any other jazz musician before or since, Louis Armstrong had a propensity for entertaining that stood him in good stead when it came time for the [more]

Johnny Hartman gained posthumous fame as one of the warmest ballad singers of this century, and his deep baritone voice is well showcased on this 1958 date, which [more]

The second volume in RCA's Jazz at Midnight series continues in the mood of its predecessor, compiling 14 smooth, sultry tracks designed for romantic, after-hours [more]

Just as when we listen to Harry Connick, Jr., there's a sense that John Pizzarelli is an old soul who is living back in the 1940s and '50s golden age of music and that listeners are [more]

RCA Victor's Most Fabulous Christmas Album Ever collects 21 of the label's most memorable holiday songs. From Spike Jones' "My Two Front Teeth" to Eartha Kitt's [more]

In the days when recording artists did not write their own material, it was not unusual for them to record more material than actually fit into record companies' release schedules. As [more]

Marcus Roberts' Cole After Midnight is actually a tribute to both the terrific pianist/singer Nat "King" Cole and the great composer Cole Porter. The pianist also wrote [more]

Cassandra Wilson continues to move down a highly eclectic path on Belly of the Sun, the somewhat belated follow-up to Traveling Miles. While displaying a jazz singer's mastery [more]