Julie London

Torch singer Julie London comes on like equal parts Billie Holiday and Chet Baker. Her music is a cocktail of heartbreak, stoic despair, sexy good humor and dreamy West Coast jazz. A ravishing beauty even amongst a roomful of Hollywood starlets, Julie London was a film actress and jazz fan who retired early to raise a family with Dragnet's Jack Webb. After they divorced, London met ace jazz songwriter Bobby Troup, who encouraged her to sing in public. For her debut, Julie Is Her Name, Troup placed her in front of a guitar-bass setup to get her intimate sound just right. Helped along by the hit single "Cry Me a River," the LP became a best-seller, defining London's career. She recorded widely throughout the 1950s and '60s, releasing a number of concept LPs, though her best work was most often in the jazz realm. She released several fine LPs, with Julie at Home and All Through the Night (a bossa-jazz tour of Cole Porter) coming highly recommended to jazz and vocal pop fans. She brought her recording career to a stop in the late '60s, but with all of her older recordings now back in print, Julie London continues to be discovered by new generations of fans.