Bestsellers > Classic Female Vocal Blues > Classic Female Vocal Blues
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At Last!(more) »rank: 1538by: Etta James
: essential recording:This is Etta James's first full-length album, recorded for Chess Records' Argo subsidiary in 1960. It taps all aspects of her then-blossoming talent. There's the crooning rock ballad 'My Dearest Darling' and the elegantly symphonic 'Sunday Kind of Love.' Her classic, brokenhearted 'All I Could Do Was Cry' follows the sweet title track and the bawdy blues stomper 'I Just Want to Make Love to You.' And there's a version of Harold Arlen's 'Stormy Weather,' which Lena Horne made famous. James's fine way with such a wide embrace of material wouldn't again be ... |
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Love Songs(more) »rank: 2798by: Etta James
: :She's no stranger to the towering highs and lows of the heart, and Etta James's soaring, gospel-tinged pipes match up well with the rigors of unabashed bliss. Happily, the good people at Chess Records recognize this, and they have thoughtfully collected some of the best examples into one tidy record. Kicking off with her classic treatment of 'At Last,' the collection moves through the lilting strings of 'My Dearest Darling' on into the expressive tones of 'I Want to Be Loved (But Only by You)' with grace and emotional candor. James can be simultaneously tender ... |
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Lady Day: The Best of Billie Holiday(more) »rank: 1722by: Billie Holiday
:Album Description:Lady Day: The Best Of Billie Holiday is an ideal introduction to the Voice of Jazz in all its enduring glory. This incomparable collection draws on the 10-CD boxed set Lady Day: The Complete Billie Holiday on Columbia (1933-1944) (CXK 85470), representing not only her finest work, but American jazz and pop singing at its zenith. Accompanied sublimely by a Who's Who of the Swing Era (including her soulmate Lester Young, Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, Buck Clayton, Roy Eldridge, Ben Webster, Johnny Hodges, Harry Carney, Jo Jones, and pianist-arranger Teddy Wilson, who was often ... |
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Swingin' Miss 'D'(more) »rank: 3603by: Dinah Washington
:Album Description:Lady Day: The Best Of Billie Holiday is an ideal introduction to the Voice of Jazz in all its enduring glory. This incomparable collection draws on the 10-CD boxed set Lady Day: The Complete Billie Holiday on Columbia (1933-1944) (CXK 85470), representing not only her finest work, but American jazz and pop singing at its zenith. Accompanied sublimely by a Who's Who of the Swing Era (including her soulmate Lester Young, Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, Buck Clayton, Roy Eldridge, Ben Webster, Johnny Hodges, Harry Carney, Jo Jones, and pianist-arranger Teddy Wilson, who was often ... |
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Love Songs(more) »rank: 3093by: Billie Holiday
: essential recording:Culled from the Columbia Records reissue packages, variously released under the multivolume Quintessential Billie Holiday umbrella, this package goes straight for the love songs, the heart of Holiday. Ranging from such playful lyrics as 'Let's Do It' and 'Them There Eyes' to such essential Holiday as 'You Go to My Head,' 'The Very Thought of You,' and 'Easy Living,' this set is guaranteed to keep the home fires burning brightly. Lay this one on your lover next Valentine's Day. As was so frequently the case with Holiday, the ensemble support is impeccable, including ... |
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Blues to the Bone(more) »rank: 9863by: Etta James
: :Californian Etta James decided against accepting filmmaker Martin Scorcese's personal invitation to sing at The Blues gala in New York in early 2003. The well-celebrated soul and blues queen makes amends here with what is one of the most blues-centered recordings in her expansive discography, bringing her big, no-nonsense voice and her feisty, proud woman's point of view to bear on classics, many identified with Chicago. The likes of Howlin' Wolf's 'Smokestack Lightnin',' Jimmy Reed's 'Hush Hush,' and Muddy Waters's 'Got My Mojo Working' may be hackneyed choices, but she seizes each of a dozen ... |
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Etta James Rocks the House(more) »rank: 14424by: Etta James
: :Californian Etta James decided against accepting filmmaker Martin Scorcese's personal invitation to sing at The Blues gala in New York in early 2003. The well-celebrated soul and blues queen makes amends here with what is one of the most blues-centered recordings in her expansive discography, bringing her big, no-nonsense voice and her feisty, proud woman's point of view to bear on classics, many identified with Chicago. The likes of Howlin' Wolf's 'Smokestack Lightnin',' Jimmy Reed's 'Hush Hush,' and Muddy Waters's 'Got My Mojo Working' may be hackneyed choices, but she seizes each of a dozen ... |
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Lady Day: The Master Takes and Singles(more) »rank: 12877by: Billie Holiday
:Album Description:Billie Holiday's story is so huge, her artistry so vast, and her impact so incalculable, that even attempting to corral a representative sampling of it within a single collection of recordings is an overwhelming, perhaps foolhardy task. Many have tried, of course, and literally hundreds of options of varying quality and legitimacy, scattered across dozens of labels, are available to the consumer. Neophytes, or those not willing to commit to a gargantuan listening session, can settle for any number of single- or double-CD best-ofs that adequately present Holiday's most important, better-known music. |
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Remixed & Reimagined(more) »rank: 10128by: Billie Holiday
: : Hot on the heels of Nina Simone's like-minded project, this 14-track disk takes Billie Holiday's masterful and mourning vocals of 1935 to 1958 to the 21st-century digital dance floor, courtesy of some resourceful remixers and DJs from Swingsett & Takuya and Nickodemus & Zeb to Organica and Poppyseed. You have to give these aural alchemists credit for their daring, but some tracks work better than others. The best include 'Spreadin’ Rhythm Around,' featuring Digable Planet's Ladybug Mecca, the echoplexed embers of GXR's 'Long Gone Blues,' DJ Logic's string-centric 'Glad to be Unhappy,' and Daniel ... |
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Songs That Got Us Through WW2, Vol. 2(more) »rank: 5608by: Various Artists
: : Hot on the heels of Nina Simone's like-minded project, this 14-track disk takes Billie Holiday's masterful and mourning vocals of 1935 to 1958 to the 21st-century digital dance floor, courtesy of some resourceful remixers and DJs from Swingsett & Takuya and Nickodemus & Zeb to Organica and Poppyseed. You have to give these aural alchemists credit for their daring, but some tracks work better than others. The best include 'Spreadin’ Rhythm Around,' featuring Digable Planet's Ladybug Mecca, the echoplexed embers of GXR's 'Long Gone Blues,' DJ Logic's string-centric 'Glad to be Unhappy,' and Daniel ... |

Where the NBA Dynasty series (the other initial entry is the slightly meatier Los Angeles Lakers: The Complete History) outdoes Ultimate Jordan is in the six playoff games--one for each year--as they were originally broadcast, minus halftime and commercials. Having the nearly complete game (usually running 90-100 minutes, from the TV introductions to post-game interviews) means you can skip straight to John Paxson's clutch basket or what was expected to be the final shot of Jordan's career. Or you can savor each game in its entirety, all the better to appreciate the artistry of Jordan in his three-pointer barrage against Portland or his "flu game" against Utah. You can see other great players too, of course, including Jordan's teammates--Scottie Pippen, Horace Grant, Dennis Rodman--and those opponents unfortunate enough to face the Bulls--Clyde Drexler, Charles Barkley, John Stockton, Karl Malone, and others. Because these are all NBA Finals games, you won't see Jordan's shot over Craig Ehlo or his 63-point coming-out party against Boston, but the 1990s Chicago Bulls were a team for the ages, and merely having their games--some of them all-time classics--available for home viewing is a major milestone in archived sports. --David Horiuchi

While last-minute heroics tend to be the standard by which we define excellence, there are many other moments that have left an indelible impression, many of them highlighted here. The video clips fall into 10 categories: Dunks, Alley-oops, Assists, Steals, Blocks, Teamwork, the Clutch Shot, Moves, Hustle, and Buzzer-Beaters. At the beginning of each section is a brief introduction. Before showing the top 10 dunks of all time, for example, we learn about the evolution of the dunk--from the first slam to the man who could fly, Michael Jordan--and we hear background commentary from NBA legends such as Magic Johnson, Charles Barkley, Dr. J, and Bill Russell. This video recalls familiar moments of NBA lore that you will want to own for countless repeat viewings. --Jeremy Storey