William Clarence Eckstine was an American jazz and pop singer and a bandleader during the swing and bebop eras. He was noted for his rich, almost operatic bass-baritone voice. In 2019, Eckstine was posthumously awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award "for performers who, during their lifetimes, have made creative contributions of outstanding artistic significance to the field of recording". His recording of "I Apologize" was given the Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 1999. The New York Times described him as an "influential band leader" whose "suave bass-baritone" and "full-throated, sugary approach to popular songs inspired singers like Earl Coleman, Johnny Hartman, Joe Williams, Arthur Prysock, and Lou Rawls."
Helen Merrill is an American jazz vocalist. Her first album, the eponymous 1954 recording Helen Merrill, was an immediate success and associated her with the first generation of bebop jazz musicians. After an active 1950s and 1960s, Merrill spent time recording and touring in Europe and Japan, falling into obscurity in the United States. In the 1980s and 1990s, she was recorded by EmArcy, JVC and Verve, and her performances in America revived her profile. Known for her emotional, sensual vocal performances, she continues to perform today, her career now in its sixth decade of concerts and recordings.
Ella in Rome: The Birthday Concert is a live album by Ella Fitzgerald, with a jazz trio led by Lou Levy, and also featuring the Oscar Peterson trio. Recorded in 1958, it was released thirty years later.
Ella at Juan-les-Pins is a 1964 live album by Ella Fitzgerald, accompanied by a quartet led by Roy Eldridge on trumpet with the pianist Tommy Flanagan, Gus Johnson on drums and Bill Yancey on bass. Val Valentin was the recording engineer, cover photo by Jean-Pierre Leloir. The original 1964 album featured 12 songs, highlights of two concerts Fitzgerald performed on the 28 and 29 of July 1964 at the fifth annual Festival Mondial du Jazz Antibes in Juan-les-Pins, France. In 2002 Verve re-issued this album, including all the performances from both evenings.
Take Love Easy is an album by the jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald with guitarist Joe Pass, released in 1974.
The Complete Ella Fitzgerald Song Books were a series of eight studio albums released in irregular intervals between 1956 and 1964, recorded by the American jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald, supported by a variety of orchestras, big bands, and small jazz combos.
Look What I Got! is a 1988 album by the American jazz singer Betty Carter.
Ella Fitzgerald Sings the George and Ira Gershwin Song Book is a box set by American jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald that contains songs by George and Ira Gershwin with arrangements by Nelson Riddle. It was produced by Norman Granz, Fitzgerald's manager and the founder of Verve Records. Fifty-nine songs were recorded in the span of eight months in 1959. It is one of the eight album releases comprising what is possibly Fitzgerald's greatest musical legacy: Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Complete American Songbook, in which she recorded, with top arrangers and musicians, a comprehensive collection of both well-known and obscure songs from the Great American Songbook canon, written by the likes of Cole Porter, Rodgers & Hart, Irving Berlin, Duke Ellington, George and Ira Gershwin, Harold Arlen, Jerome Kern, and Johnny Mercer.
Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Harold Arlen Song Book is a 1961 album by the American jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald, with a studio orchestra conducted and arranged by Billy May. This album marked the only time that Fitzgerald worked with May.
Once More with Feeling is a 1960 studio album by the American singer Billy Eckstine. It was arranged by Billy May and produced by Teddy Reig.
Timeless is a 1986 album by Diane Schuur, accompanied by a big band, arranged by Billy May, Johnny Mandel, Patrick Williams and Jeremy Lubbock.
Helen Merrill is the debut studio album by vocalist Helen Merrill, on which she is accompanied by trumpeter Clifford Brown in arrangements by Quincy Jones. Brown had recorded a similar album with Sarah Vaughan only a few days previously, on December 16 and 18, 1954.
Music Makers is an album by Helen Merrill. It was recorded in March 1986 and released by Owl Records.
Collaboration is a 1987 studio album by Helen Merrill, arranged by Gil Evans. With the almost identical repertoire of recorded songs –though in another order– and following Evans' original scores it is a celebratory re-recording of their previous collaboration from 30 years ago for Merrill's album Dream of You, released in 1957 also on EmArcy. The one exception is the opener, "Summertime" from Porgy and Bess, that Evans recorded with Miles Davis in 1958, it replaces "You're Lucky to Me". Like Dream of YouCollaboration was recorded on three consecutive recording sessions each with a different line-up, one with woodwinds and trombone for most songs, featuring soprano saxophonist Steve Lacy on two tracks, one session with brass and another with a string section and woodwind.
Velvet Mood: Songs by Billie Holiday is an album by jazz singer Billie Holiday, released in 1956 on Clef Records. The music was recorded over the course of two sessions in Los Angeles, two days apart, which also resulted in all the material for her previous album Music for Torching.
The Greatest Jazz Concert in the World is a 1967 live album featuring Duke Ellington and his orchestra, Ella Fitzgerald, Oscar Peterson, T-Bone Walker, Coleman Hawkins, Clark Terry and Zoot Sims. It was released in 1975.
Birks' Works is an album by trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie recorded in 1957 and released on the Verve label. The original album featured 10 tracks and was reissued as Birks Works: The Verve Big Band Sessions, a 2 CD compilation featuring unreleased tracks, alternate takes and tracks from Gillespie's previous 1956 albums Dizzy in Greece and World Statesman.
That's How I Love the Blues! is an album by American jazz vocalist Mark Murphy featuring tracks recorded in late 1962 for the Riverside label.
The Cool Voice of Rita Reys is the debut album by Dutch jazz singer Rita Reys which features sessions recorded with bands led by drummers Art Blakey and her husband Wessel Ilcken. The sessions are divided over each side of the original LP which was released on the Dutch Philips and US Columbia labels.
You've Got a Date with the Blues is an album by vocalist Helen Merrill, recorded for the MetroJazz label in 1958.
