Aficionados of Bing Crosby's '50s recordings have often looked in vain for more material along the same lines. Crosby's artistic highlights of the era, outings like 1956's Bing Sings Whilst

In 1999, Collectors' Choice released Voices in Latin/The Freshman Year, which contained two complete albums – Voices in Latin (1958, originally released on Capitol) and The Freshman Year (1961, originally released on Capitol) – by the Four Freshmen on one compact disc.

If you wish to judge a man by the company he keeps, then look no further than the Hall of Fame that is the listing above, a roll call of the good and the great musicians that enrich Fame's music. If the The Whole World's Shaking collection of Columbia recordings captured Fame the young R&B Mod God, then Survival signposts the later material which found Fame calling on a classic line-up of Brit and American jazzers. The public profile may not have been so high, but the music has grown all the richer. Two of the six CDs here cover the years 1991 to 2015 and feature top bands, Brit (notably with Guy Barker) and US, in full flow. Likewise, Fame's voice, if not as elastic as before, finds him able to narrate a lyric as few can (check out what he does with Fran Landesman's lyrics to ‘Eros Hotel’). It also finds him as the carrier of the flame: where once he was a young tyro, now he is putting listeners in touch with Mose Allison, Ray Charles and Ben Sidran, keeping the heritage live with songs like ‘Mose Knows’ and ‘Flamingo All Nighter’. There's a wadge of unreleased material, with the most notable plums appearing on the fourth disc, a whole unreleased live at the Lyceum set featuring an incandescent Alan Skidmore. Throw in an intelligent interview with Paolo Hewitt and handsome packaging and your Fame collection should now be complete.

One of the great entries in Duke Ellington's "exotic" albums of the 60s - records that aren't exactly exotica by any stretch of the imagination, but which have musical themes that were inspired by the international travels of the Ellington band at the time! In this case, the locale is the Virgin Islands - where Ellington performed in 1965, and returned home to record this set as a memory of tunes played by the band in St Croix and St Thomas. The core of the set is the initial Virgin Islands suite - made up of four new tunes that include "Island Virgin", "Virgin Jungle", "Fiddler On The Diddle", and "Jungle Kitty" - all nicely rhythmic numbers that explore some fresh themes with especially nice horn solos from the members of the group. Other tracks are older numbers performed on the tour, given a bit of a new twist here.

This two-CD set (a reissue of an earlier two-LP set plus six previously unreleased numbers) brings back a memorable Carnegie Hall concert that both features and pays tribute to Ella Fitzgerald. The great singer is joined on a few numbers by a Chick Webb reunion band that has a few of the original members (plus an uncredited Panama Francis on drums). Although the musicians do not get much solo space (why wasn't trumpeter Taft Jordan featured?), the music is pleasing. Fitzgerald performs three exquisite duets with pianist Ellis Larkins and then sits out while the Jazz at the Philharmonic All-Stars romp on a few jams and a ballad medley. Trumpeter Roy Eldridge's emotional flights take honors, although tenorman Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis and trombonist Al Grey are also in good form. Fitzgerald comes out for the second half of the show and sings 14 numbers with guitarist Joe Pass (including a pair of tender duets) and the Tommy Flanagan trio.

The compilers of this five-CD/cassette box set anthology, which contains 104 tracks and runs over six hours, have taken an inclusive, open-ended approach to both their selections and their sequencing. Unconventionally, the album is organized not chronologically, but thematically, in eight categories – "Steeped in the Blues," Straight out of Church," "Let's Have a Party," "Swinging the Songbook," "After Hours: Slow-Dancing and Torching the Songbook," "Jazz Compositions," and "Novelties and Take-Offs" (in other words, blues, gospel, dance, standards, slow standards, scatting and vocalese, and other). Annotator Robert G. O'Meally is quick to acknowledge that the categories are slippery, however, and to invite the listener to re-arrange the sequencing as he sees fit, a suggestion some may not appreciate.

The long-awaited first collaboration between two icons, Count Basie and Frank Sinatra, did something unique for the reputations of both. For Basie, the Sinatra connection inaugurated a period in the '60s where his band was more popular and better-known than it ever was, even in the big-band era. For Sinatra, Basie meant liberation, producing perhaps the loosest, rhythmically free singing of his career. Propelled by the irresistible drums of Sonny Payne, Sinatra careens up to and around the tunes, reacting jauntily to the beat and encouraging Payne to swing even harder, which was exactly the way to interact with the Basie rhythm machine – using his exquisite timing flawlessly.

The Ink Spots played a large role in pioneering the Black vocal group-harmony genre, helping to pave the way for the doo wop explosion of the '50s. The quavering high tenor of Bill Kenny presaged hundreds of street-corner leads to come, and the sweet harmonies of Charlie Fuqua, Deek Watson, and bass Hoppy Jones (who died in 1944) backed him flawlessly.
Kenny's impeccable diction and Jones's deep drawl were both prominent on the Ink Spots' first smash on Decca in 1939, the sentimental "If I Didn't Care." From then through 1951, the group was seldom absent from the pop charts, topping the lists with "We Three (My Echo, My Shadow, and Me)" (1940), "I'm Making Believe" and "Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall" (both in 1944), and "The Gypsy" and "To Each His Own" (both in 1946).

You have to admire New York Voices' diversity – this is a jazz vocal group that has embraced everything from modal post-bop and Brazilian jazz to Stevie Wonder pearls. And how many artists have devoted an entire album to jazz interpretations of Paul Simon tunes? Not everything the Voices have recorded is great, but more often than not, their sense of adventure and open-mindedness have served them well. After paying tribute to pop-rocker Simon in 1997, the Voices make big band music the main focus of Sing, Sing, Sing. This time, they are backed by a big band and turn their attention to gems associated with swing icons like Benny Goodman ("Sing, Sing, Sing," "Don't Be That Way"), Duke Ellington ("In A Mellow Tone"), Woody Herman ("Early Autumn"), and Artie Shaw ("Stardust"). Although many of these classics came out of the Swing Era, Sing, Sing, Sing also has its share of post-World War II gems. Ralph Burns' lovely "Early Autumn" is a gem that Herman recorded in 1948, when he was exploring bop with his Second Herd and the Four Brothers. And "Orange Colored Sky," which was a major hit for Nat "King" Cole in 1950, is quite relevant to the CD's big band theme because Cole recorded it with the Stan Kenton Orchestra.

As you drive into Liverpool you will see a sign Liverpool 'Home Of The Beatles', which is absolutely true, but the city's contribution to popular music is far greater than that, covering the years before the Beatles, the Beatle years themselves, and more recent times. The Wall of Fame in Mathew Street salutes Liverpool's number 1 hit-makers and there is plenty of space for further additions. Compiled and annotated by author and BBC Radio Merseyside broadcaster Spencer Leigh, Liverpool Sounds presents 75 tracks which, by and large, relate to the pre-Beatles area. There are great songs, great comedy and great performances, and every track is here for a reason.

For the first time, all of Ella & Louis' classic duets are in one place. This 4CD set gathers their timeless three Verve albums newly remastered versions of Ella and Louis, Ella and Louis Again and Porgy and Bess combining them with their eight Decca singles, live recordings from Jazz at the Hollywood Bowl plus several alternates & false starts from the Decca & Verve eras, illuminating their craft & good humor.

This eclectic collection of songs encompasses jazz, bebop, swing, doo wop, rock & roll, and gospel; all are trimmed in an attractive pop texture. These 16 compositions are taken from the vocal quartet's albums, which span 12 years (1975-1987). Each selection is inviting, as all four song stylists display their individual vocal skills and admirable harmonies. Laurel Masse appears on recordings up until 1979, when Cheryl Bentyne replaced her. Other members include Tim Hauser, Janis Siegel, and Alan Paul.

Eleven Complete Mose Allison Albums Over Five Discs Born just outside Tippo, Mississippi on his grandfather's farm (known as The Island because Tippo Bayou encircles it , Mose Allison was already taking piano lessons by the age of five. He picked cotton at home, played piano in grammar school and trumpet in high school, and wrote his first song at age thirteen. He went to college at the University of Mississippi for a semester, then enlisted in the U.S. Army for two years. Shortly after mustering out, he enrolled at Louisiana State University, from which he graduated in 1952 with a BA in English with a minor in Philosophy.

Original 4 CD box set issued by The Smithsonian Collection of Recordings encompassing 1924 - 1968, including recordings from Jelly Roll Morton, Fats Waller, Earl Hines, Count Basie, Nat King Cole, Oscar Peterson, Bill Evans, Chick Corea, and Herbie Hancock.

The dean of American pop vocalists took a different and exciting fork in the road for his third Duets album, recruiting the best Latin vocalists in the world, and rejuvenating classic material like "The Best Is Yet to Come" (featuring Chayanne), "For Once in My Life" (featuring Marc Anthony), "Who Can I Turn To (When Nobody Needs Me)" (featuring Gloria Estefan), "The Way You Look Tonight" (featuring Thalía), and "Return to Me" (featuring ranchera legend Vicente Fernández). Most of the charts are big band – one of the exceptions being the highlight, his duet with Fernández – but crossover fans will note that Bennett's English gives way to his duet partners' Spanish, an intriguing and successful choice.