PEGGY LEE — Black Coffee & Dream Street : The Complete Sessions (2009) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Black Coffee (1956)
1. Black Coffee (3:09)
Written-By – Paul Francis Webster, Sonny Burke
2. I've Got You Under My Skin (2:32)
Written-By – Cole Porter
3. Easy Living (2:47)
Written-By – Leo Robin, Ralph Rainger
4. My Heart Belongs to Daddy (2:12)
Written-By – Cole Porter
5. It Ain't Necessarily So (3:26)
Written-By – George & Ira Gershwin
6. Gee Baby, Ain't I Good to You? (3:26)
Written-By – Andy Razaf, Don Redman
7. A Woman Alone with the Blues (3:17)
Written-By – Willard Robison
8. I Didn't Know What Time It Was (2:21)
Written-By – Richard Rodgers-Lorenz Hart
9. (Ah, the Apple Trees) When the World Was Young (3:21)
Written-By – Angele Uannier, Johnny Mercer, M. Philippe Gerard
10. Love Me or Leave Me (2:11)
Written-By – Gus Kahn, Walter Donaldson
11. You're My Thrill (3:26)
Written-By – Jay Gorney, Sidney Clare
12. There's a Small Hotel (2:48)
Written-By – Richard Rodgers-Lorenz Hart
13. Do I Love You? (1:37)
Written-By – Cole Porter
14. Guess I'll Go Back Home (This Summer) (3:19)
Written-By – Ray Mayer, Willard Robison
Dream Street (1956)
15. Street of Dreams (3:23)
Written-By – Sam M. Lewis, Victor Young
16. What's New (3:00)
Written-By – Bob Haggart, Johnny Burke
17. You're Blase (2:50)
Written-By – Bruce Sievier, Ord Hamilton
18. It's All Right with Me (2:24)
Written-By – Cole Porter
19. My Old Flame (2:39)
Written-By – Arthur Johnston, Sam Coslow
20. Dancing on the Ceiling (3:41)
Written-By – Richard Rodgers-Lorenz Hart
21. It Never Entered My Mind (3:02)
Written-By – Richard Rodgers-Lorenz Hart
22. Too Late Now (3:49)
Written-By – Alan Jay Lerner, Burton Lane
23. I've Grown Accustomed to His Face (2:47)
Written-By – Alan Jay Lerner-Frederick Loewe
24. Something I Dreamed Last Night (2:30)
Written-By – Herbert Magidson, Jack Yellen, Sammy Fain
25. Last Night When We Were Young (2:57)
Written-By – Yip Harburg, Harold Arlen
26. So Blue (2:14)
Written-By – Buddy G. DeSylva, Lew Brown, Ray Henderson
27. I Still Get a Thrill (Thinking of You) (2:21)
Written-By – Benny Davis, J. Fred Coots
Credits :
Arranged By – Shorty Rogers (tracks: 15 to 27), Sy Oliver (tracks: 15 to 27)
Bass – Buddy Clark (tracks: 5, 6, 11 to 14), Max Wayne (tracks: 1 to 4, 7 to 10)
Drums – Ed Shaughnessy (tracks: 1 to 4, 7 to 10), Nick Fatool (tracks: 15 to 27)
Drums, Vibraphone – Larry Bunker (tracks: 5, 6, 11 to 14)
Flute, Saxophone – Bud Shank (tracks: 15 to 27)
Guitar – Bill Pitman (tracks: 5, 6, 11 to 27)
Harp – Stella Castellucci (tracks: 5, 6, 11 to 27)
Piano – Jimmy Rowles (tracks: 1 to 4, 7 to 10), Lou Levy (tracks: 5, 6, 11 to 14)
Saxophone – Bob Cooper (tracks: 15 to 27)
Trumpet – Pete Candoli (tracks: 1 to 4, 7 to 10)
Vibraphone, Percussion – Larry Bunker (tracks: 15 to 27)
Vocals – Peggy Lee
This cd contains the complete sessions from Peggy Lee's two celebrated albums "Black Coffee" and "Dream Street", marking the first time ever that either of these LPs is released with all of the tracks from its studio dates.

Black Coffee :
1-4 & 7-10: New York, April 30, May 1 & May 4, 1953
5-6 & 11-14: LOs Angeles, April 3, 1956

Dream Street :
15-27: Los Angeles, June 5 & 7, 1956
Bass on these sessions was either played by Max Bennett or Buddy Clark.

Tracks 13, 14, 27: from the same sessions but not issued on the original LPs.

BENNY GOODMAN AND HIS ORCHESTRA – 1941, Vol. 3 | The Classics Chronological Series – 1271 (2002) FLAC (tracks), lossless

Benny Goodman's 21st volume in his portion of the Classics Chronological Series contains all of the red label Columbia records the popular clarinetist and bandleader made in Chicago and New York between August 15 and October 8, 1941. This compilation contains Peggy Lee's very first recordings. Originally known as Norma Egstrom, she was singing at the Windy City's Hotel Ambassador when Goodman heard her while taking a break from his band's run at the Panther Room in the Hotel Sherman. Goodman, who needed a vocalist to fill the gap left by the sudden departure of Helen Forrest, hired her without hesitation. He also continued his struggle against bigotry by including in his band several uncommonly skilled Afro-American musicians -- trumpeter Cootie Williams, bassist John Simmons and drummers Jo Jones and Sid Catlett. Because of hassles with the Musicians' Union, Jones, who can be heard on two recently unearthed "test" takes, almost didn't get to record with Goodman at all on September 25, 1941; five of the tracks cut on that day have no drummer at all. For an interesting listening experience, compare both versions of "The Earl." Take one is powerfully propelled by Jones, who during take two may very well have been egging on the band from the sidelines as he did years later during the Ellington band's notoriously over-the-top performance at the Newport Jazz Festival. Both takes feature the piano of Mel Powell, who composed and arranged this exciting number. Jones was borrowed from Count Basie to fill in for Catlett, who had quarreled with Goodman during an appearance at Meadowbrook in New Jersey and quit shortly afterwards, only to return for the session of October 2. Another test recording that has existed for years in a sort of discographical no-man's-land devoid of matrix numbers is Goodman's two-part jam on Mary Lou Williams' "Roll 'Em." The producers of this series have determined that it belongs in this portion of the Classics Benny Goodman chronology. arwulf arwulf
Tracklist :

BENNY GOODMAN AND HIS ORCHESTRA – 1941-1942 | The Classics Chronological Series – 1303 (2003) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Tracklist :

BENNY GOODMAN AND HIS ORCHESTRA – 1942 | The Classics Chronological Series – 1324 (2003) FLAC (tracks), lossless

Tracklist :

BENNY GOODMAN AND HIS ORCHESTRA – 1947-1948 | The Classics Chronological Series – 1418 (2006) FLAC (tracks), lossless

The magnitude of Benny Goodman's recorded legacy becomes apparent when one reflects upon the fact that this is Volume 32 in the Classics reissue label's comprehensive chronology of his complete works. Aware that the second AFM recording ban would soon paralyze commercial studio activity in the U.S., Goodman waxed quite a number of sides during December 1947 with his sextet, septet and orchestra. Three individuals who really shone during this period were vibraphonist Red Norvo, vocalist Peggy Lee, who had swiftly matured into a sultry, expressive interpreter of romantic songs, and trumpeter Jake "Vernon" Porter who added an extra dimension to Goodman's ensembles by growling through a mute like Herman Autrey or Cootie Williams. The sextet sessions of December 9 and 11 resulted in several superb instrumentals including the old Dixieland standard "That's a Plenty," Rodgers & Hart's "You Took Advantage of Me" and Fats Waller's "Henderson Stomp," here arranged by Fletcher Henderson himself. Henderson's big-band arrangement of Kid Ory's "Muskrat Ramble" yielded spectacular results; how frustrating it must have been for Goodman to know that within days he would be officially prevented from continuing this wonderful spell of creative production. Capitol chose not to issue "The Record Ban Blues," part of a subgenre of protest songs devised and recorded by artists who were disgruntled with the policies of AFM president James C. Petrillo. Goodman wasn't able to record in a studio under his own name again until August 20, 1948, when he cut a series of government-sponsored V-Discs with a stunningly cool and modern ensemble that included tenor saxophonist Wardell Gray and pianist, arranger and composer Mary Lou Williams. Four out of six sides were rejected; only "Benny's Bop" and "There's a Small Hotel" were deemed suitable for circulation among armed forces personnel. Anybody who loves Wardell Gray should be sure and latch on to the beautiful recordings that he made during the summer of 1948 with the Benny Goodman Sextet. arwulf arwulf

Tracklist :

BARNEY BIGARD – 1944 | The Classics Chronological Series – 896 (1996) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Barney Bigard is one of the great jazz clarinetists. Although most famous for playing in Duke Ellington's band, Bigard performed with a host of lesser bandleaders, giving a series of distinctive, lyrical performances with each. 1944 collects Bigard's performances with the Capitol International Jazzmen, Zutty Singleton's bands, and his time with Roger Kay. Although not as consistently revelatory as his playing with the Duke, these sessions show Bigard to be a master of his instrument, displaying fabulous technique and great lyricism throughout. The Classics label has done a fine job at remastering, and the excellent liner notes round off a nice package. Thomas Ward
Tracklist + Credits :

PEGGY LEE / GEORGE SHEARING - Beauty and the Beat! (1959-2003) RM / FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Upon its first release Beauty and the Beat! was billed as a live recording from a Miami convention of disc jockeys. Though Peggy Lee and George Shearing did in fact perform there (and attempts were made to record them for later release), the songs heard on the subsequent LP were recorded in the studio and overdubbed with rather obvious canned applause, announcements, and even post-production echo. Lee and Shearing, who had never recorded before, conceived a set of completely new arrangements that played to their strengths: stately blues and effervescent swing. The best of the former comes on a pair of locale-referencing quasi-blues, "I Lost My Sugar in Salt Lake City" and "You Came a Long Way From St. Louis," both of which Lee and Shearing are able to transform into languorous, respectable torch songs. The usually downcast "Blue Prelude" is actually taken at a laissez faire tempo that Lee treats well, and the original set ends with "Get Out of Town" and "Satin Doll," a pair of bemused, affectionate performances that perfectly suit the pair. Lee and Shearing's only collaboration on record -- though both would occasionally perform together thereafter -- is a supremely chilled session of late-night blues from two masters of the form. by John Bush  
Tracklist:
1    Do I Love You?    3:03
Cole Porter
2    I Lost My Sugar In Salt Lake City 2:27
John Lange / Leon René
3    If Dreams Come True 2:20
Benny Goodman / Irving Mills / Edgar Sampson
4    All Too Soon    2:35
Duke Ellington / Carl Sigman
5    Mambo In Miami    1:42
Armando Peraza
6    Isn't It Romantic?    2:54
Lorenz Hart / Richard Rodgers
7    Blue Prelude    2:06
Joe Bishop / Gordon Jenkins
8    You Came A Long Way From St. Louis 2:50   
John Benson Brooks / Bob Russell
9    Always True To You In My Fashion    1:58
Cole Porter
10    There'll Be Another Spring    2:23
Peggy Lee / Hubie Wheeler
11    Get Out Of Town    1:58
Cole Porter
12    Satin Doll    2:47
Duke Ellington / Johnny Mercer / Billy Strayhorn
13    Nobody's Heart    2:29
Lorenz Hart / Richard Rodgers
14    Don't Ever Leave Me    2:59
Oscar Hammerstein II / Jerome Kern
Performer – The George Shearing Quintet
Piano – George Shearing
Producer – David Cavanaugh
Vocals – Peggy Lee

PEGGY LEE - Black Coffee With Peggy Lee (1956-1999) RM / FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Peggy Lee left Capitol in 1952 for, among several other reasons, the label's refusal to let her record and release an exotic, tumultuous version of "Lover." Lee was certainly no Mitch Miller songbird, content to loosen her gorgeous pipes on any piece of tripe foisted upon her; she was a superb songwriter with a knowledge of production and arrangement gained from work in big bands and from her husband, Dave Barbour (although the two weren't together at the time). The more open-minded Decca acquiesced to her demand, and watched its investment pay off quickly when the single became her biggest hit in years. Black Coffee was Lee's next major project. Encouraged by longtime Decca A&R Milt Gabler, she hired a small group including trumpeter Pete Candoli and pianist Jimmy Rowles (two of her favorite sidemen) to record an after-hours jazz project similar in intent and execution to Lee Wiley's "Manhattan project" of 1950, Night in Manhattan. While the title-track opener of Black Coffee soon separated itself from the LP -- to be taught forever after during the first period of any Torch Song 101 class -- the album doesn't keep to its concept very long; Lee is soon enough in a bouncy mood for "I've Got You Under My Skin" and very affectionate on "Easy Living." (If there's a concept at work here, it's the vagaries of love.) Listeners should look instead to "It Ain't Necessarily So" or "Gee, Baby, Ain't I Good to You?" for more examples of Lee's quintessentially slow-burn sultriness. Aside from occasionally straying off-concept, however, Black Coffee is an excellent record, spotlighting Lee's ability to shine with every type of group and in any context. [When originally recorded and released in 1953, Black Coffee was an eight-song catalog of 78s. Three years later, Decca commissioned an LP expansion of the record, for which Lee recorded several more songs. The 2004 Verve edition is therefore a reissue of the 1956 12-song LP.] by John Bush  

Tracklist :

1 Black Coffee 3:09
Sonny Burke / Paul Francis Webster
2 I've Got You Under My Skin 2:31
Cole Porter
3 Easy Living 2:47
Ralph Rainger / Leo Robin
4 My Heart Belongs to Daddy  2:11
Cole Porter
5 It Ain't Necessarily So 3:26
George Gershwin / Ira Gershwin
6 Gee, Baby, Ain't I Good to You? 3:26
Andy Razaf / Don Redman
7 A Woman Alone With the Blues 3:16
Willard Robison
8 I Didn't Know What Time It Was 2:21
Richard Rodgers
9 (Ah, The Apple Trees) When the World Was Young 3:21
Johnny Mercer
10 Love Me or Leave Me 2:10
Walter Donaldson / Gus Kahn
11 You're My Thrill 3:26
Sidney Clare / Jay Gorney
12 There's a Small Hotel 2:48
Lorenz Hart / Richard Rodgers
Credits :
Bass – Max Wayne
Drums – Ed Shaughnessy
Piano – Jimmy Rowles
Trumpet – Pete Candori
Vocals – Peggy Lee

PEGGY LEE – A Natural Woman + Is That All There Is? (2003) FLAC (tracks), lossless

The compilers of British EMI's extensive "two on one" reissue series have made some questionable choices in combining two albums originally issued on LP into a single CD, but it's hard to second guess this one, which contains the two albums Peggy Lee released in 1969, A Natural Woman and Is That All There Is? Not only are the collections chronologically sequential, but it sounds like the second one employs tracks recorded for the first one. By the late ‘60s, Lee, like many other veteran pop singers, was attempting to keep current and keep selling records by incorporating current trends in pop/rock into her music. A Natural Woman alternates efforts by two prominent Los Angeles session musicians serving as arranger/conductors, pianist Mike Melvoin and trumpeter Bobby Bryant. This is one of those albums that sounds like these guys (and perhaps Lee, too) came up with the set list by listening to their AM radios, tuned to the local Top 40 station, on the freeway on their way to the session. They hear, say, Aretha Franklin's "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman," Otis Redding's "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay," Sly & the Family Stone's "Everyday People," and Blood, Sweat & Tears' "Spinning Wheel," and, by the time they pull into the parking lot, they've got the gist of the arrangement down and proceed to re-create it, more or less, with their fellow session pros, as Lee gamely approximates the hit vocals. When they do use a vintage piece of material, such as "(All of a Sudden) My Heart Sings," or come up with an original ("Lean on Me"), they are still keeping in mind what they heard on the radio, so that the former sounds like watered-down Motown and the latter has the modified R&B funkiness of Frank Sinatra's "That's Life."

The atypical last song on A Natural Woman leads right into Is That All There Is? It's Randy Newman's introspective ballad "I Think It's Gonna Rain Today," and since Newman arranged and conducted Lee's surprise comeback hit with Leiber & Stoller's European-style art song "Is That All There Is?" (inspired by a Thomas Mann short story), and that song leads off the second LP, the mood stays constant. And that mood continues with the next track, "Love Story," another Newman composition, even if Lee, the disillusionment of "Is That All There Is?" notwithstanding, cannot bring herself to sing Newman's fatalistic final couplet, "We'll play checkers all day/Until we pass away." Instead, she substitutes "We'll play checkers in the sun/Playing checkers can be fun." Unfortunately, Is That All There Is? doesn't turn out to be a complete album of similar material. In fact, it is actually a cobbled-together rush job that was assembled on the fly to have an LP in the record racks while "Is That All There Is?," which had been released as a one-off single, was still in the charts. Capitol Records thought nothing of recycling previously released tracks including Lee's 1963 hit "I'm a Woman" (also written by Leiber & Stoller) to pad the collection out to LP length. Toward the end, there are some good songs and arrangements in the art song style of "Is That All There Is?," however, notably Newman's "Linda," which has had its gender switched and is called "Johnny (Linda)." But the Is That All There Is? LP remains a patchwork Peggy Lee album, even suitably paired with A Natural Woman. William Ruhlmann 
Tracklist :
1 (All of a Sudden) My Heart Sings 2:55
Jean Marie Blanvillain / Henri Herpin / Harold Rome
2 Don't Explain 4:03
Billie Holiday / Arthur Herzog, Jr.
3 Can I Change My Mind? 2:53
4 Lean on Me 2:48
Peggy Lee / Mundell Lowe / Mike Melvoin
5 (Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay 2:40
Steve Cropper / Otis Redding
6 (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman 3:04
Gerry Goffin / Carole King / Jerry Wexler
7 Everyday People 2:50
Sylvester "Sly Stone" Stewart
8 Please Send Me Someone to Love   4:11
Percy Mayfield
9 Spinning Wheel 2:40
David Clayton-Thomas
10 Living Is Dying Without You 3:30
Joel Hirschhorn / Al Kasha
11 I Think It's Gonna Rain Today 3:18
Randy Newman
12 Is That All There Is? 4:22
Jerry Leiber / Mike Stoller
13 Love Story 3:31
Randy Newman
14 Me and My Shadow 3:07
Dave Dreyer / Al Jolson / Billy Rose
15 Sing a Rainbow 2:31
Arthur Hamilton
16 My Old Flame 4:30
Sam Coslow / Arthur Johnston
17 I'm a Woman 2:10
Jerry Leiber / Mike Stoller
18 Somethin' Stupid 2:35
C. Carson Parks
19 Brother Love's Traveling Salvation Show 3:08
Neil Diamond
20 Something 3:11
George Harrison
21 Whistle for Happiness 2:12
Jerry Leiber / Mike Stoller
22 Johnny (Linda) 2:52
Randy Newman
23 I Can Hear the Music 1:59
Jeff Barry / Ellie Greenwich / Phil Spector
24 Don't Smoke in Bed 3:12
Willard Robison
25 You Must Have a Beautiful Baby 1:50
Johnny Mercer / Harry Warren 

PEGGY LEE - Dream Street (1957-1999) RM / FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Dream Street captures Peggy Lee at her most intimate and melancholy -- a song cycle exploring love and loss in uncompromisingly frank terms, it strips away the saccharine and schmaltz so common among the singer's Decca sessions to effectively create the first truly adult music of her career. Lee occupies the same harrowing emotional territory staked out by Frank Sinatra via the landmark In the Wee Small Hours, investing the material with the kind of heartbreak and longing that belies the whole "easy listening" tag -- this is music shorn of pretense and artifice, as intense as a primal scream yet beautiful in the way only art of this magnitude can be.  by Jason Ankeny
Tracklist 
1 Street Of Dreams  3:17
Written-By – S.M. Lewis, V. Young
2 What's New  2:55
Written-By – B. Haggart, J. Burke
3 You're Blase  2:46
Written-By – B. Sievier, O. Hamilton
4 It's All Right With Me  2:20
Written-By – C. Porter
5 My Old Flame  2:35
Written-By – A. Johnston, S. Coslow
6 Dancing On The Ceiling  3:36
Written-By – L. Hart, R. Rogers
7 It Never Entered My Mind  2:57
Written-By – L. Hart, R. Rogers
8 Too Late Now  3:44
Written-By – A. J. Lerner, B. Lane
9 I've Grown Accustomed To His Face  2:42
Written-By – A. J. Lerner, F. Lowe
10 Something I Dreamed Last Night  2:25
Written-By – H. Magidson, J. Yellen, S. Fain
11 Last Night When We Were Young  2:51
Written-By – E.Y. Harburg, H. Arlen
12 So Blue  2:11
Written-By – DeSylva, Brown, Henderson
Credits
Larry Bunker - Percussion, Vibraphone
Nick Fatool - Drums
Peggy Lee - Primary Artist, Vocals
Lou Levy - Piano