Blossom Dearie

This is probably the finest album that the bespectacled, bop-mad Betty Boop cut while she was at Verve Records-- and that's saying a lot. Dearie's light-as-a-feather vocals float over her jazz piano chords on the definitive versions of "Manhattan," "Down With Love" and the autumnal title track. Like the finest singer/jazz musicians (Louis Armstrong, Chet Baker, Shirley Horn) its how Blossom Dearie slots her voice into her music -- and conversely leaves space for her voice -- that makes all the difference. Dearie's reading of a lyric is special too -- she tells a personal story.