 | Vertigo by Rene Marie
Buy new: $17.98 / Used from: $6.55 From the playfulness of 'Them There Eyes' to the anger of 'Dixie/Strange Fruit', Ms. Marie covers nearly the entire range of human emotions on this CD. Jeremy Pelt's trumpet screaming as one with Rene's vocal screaming is bone-chilling and riveting. With the marvelous Mulgrew Miller and Tain Watts backing her, how could she not swing your socks off?
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 | Ballads: Remembering John Coltrane by Karrin Allyson
Buy new: $11.98 / Used from: $4.96 If you love Coltrane, you will love this. Karrin sings the tracks from John Coltranes's 'Ballads' and this CD is as hypnotic as Coltrane's. Her phrasing is perfect and she almost channels Trane. Not a cover - an homage.
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 | Duos II by Luciana Souza
Buy new: $14.99 / Used from: $12.49 I could listen to this all day - and I have! Luciana is a delightful person and her personality shines through each track. If anything, this exceeds her first Brazilian Duos CD. Superb guitar work by all her accompanists, too.
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 | Come Rain or Come Shine -- The Songs of Johnny Mercer by Nancy Lamott
Buy new: $16.98 / Used from: $7.99 Her untimely passing was tragic, but her musical gifts live on, thank goodness. This is a CD filled with works by one of my favorites, Johnny Mercer, and it's as though Nancy was born to sing these songs. 'P.S. I Love You' (not the Beatles) is my favorite. I've been married for 30 years and that song captures exactly the yearning I feel when I'm on the road and missing my wife.
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 | Good Night, And Good Luck by Dianne Reeves
Buy new: $14.99 / Used from: $3.88 I didn't see the movie, but even so, this captures the feel of the 50's - my favorite era for jazz music.
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 | Carmen Sings Monk by Carmen McRae
Buy used from: $7.98 Carmen's voice was not what it used to be, but she warmly remembers her friend Thelonious Monk by singing nothing but songs by or associated with him. Loving interpretations.
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 | From This Moment On by Diana Krall
Buy new: $14.99 / Used from: $3.50 I cheated with this choice. Mrs. Elvis Costello's a decent singer, but the Clayton-Hamilton Orchestra steals this CD by completely overshadowing Krall. Without the orchestra, just a good Krall CD. With them, marvelous.
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 | Blue Light 'Til Dawn by Cassandra Wilson
Buy new: $7.99 / Used from: $0.60 'Come On in My Kitchen' and 'I Can't Stand the Rain' are, by themselves, worth the price of this CD. Sexy, hypnotic blues. Spare, haunting arrangements. Excellent.
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 | Pure Ella by Ella Fitzgerald
Buy new: $11.98 / Used from: $2.55 Aptly named. Nothing but her lovely voice and Ellis Larkin's wonderful piano. 'You Leave Me Breathless' will leave you that way, too.
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