Ultra-Lounge Christmas Cocktails...Hi-Fi Holiday Cheer from Santa's Pad

 

A perfect martini-and-mistletoe combo, Christmas Cocktails will gaily seduce you with its bevy of nostalgic and occasionally campy holiday fare. Vocal vixens Peggy Lee, Julie London (her "I'd Like You for Christmas" will melt the ice cubes in your fridge), Kay Starr and Nancy Wilson join forces with perennial crooners such as Lou Rawls, Dean Martin and the immortal Nat "King" Cole, along with a handful of instrumental big-band numbers and odd, at times cheese-ball-shaped jazz organ pieces from Jimmy McGriff and the flammable Eddie Dundstedter, among others. But the essential item that makes plunking down your pelts for this very chi-chi set is none other than Billy May's lovably kitschy workout called "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer Mambo." It's a scream!

Tracklist:
–Billy May     Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer Mambo     2:40
–Peggy Lee     Winter Wonderland     1:54
–Ray Anthony  Christmas Trumpets / We Wish You A Very Merry Christmas     –Lou Rawls     Christmas Is     3:15
–Jimmy McGriff     Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town / White Christmas     6:48
–Julie London     I'd Like You For Christmas     2:37
–Al Caiola & Riz Ortolani     Holiday On Skis     2:32
–Kay Starr     (Everybody's Waitin' For) The Man With The Bag     2:42
–Hollyridge Strings*     Jingle Bells / Jingle Bell Rock     5:15
–Dean Martin     I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm     2:44
–Eddie Dunstedter  I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus / Jingle Bells Bossa Nova  –Ray Anthony     Christmas Kisses     1:58
–Jackie Gleason / Jack Marshall  I'll Be Home For Christmas / Baby, It's Cold –Nancy Wilson     What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?     2:25
–Capitol Studio Orchestra     Cha-Cha All The Way     2:22
–Nat King Cole     The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas To You)     3:12
–Les Brown & His Band Of Renown*     The Nutcracker Suite     6:32
–Fred Waring & The Pennsylvanians     Ring Those Christmas Bells     5:00
–Renzo Cesana     Today I Buy You Violets     2:26
–Nat King Cole & Peggy Lee & Nancy Wilson  Marine Corps Reserve Toys For Tots  –Capitol Studio Orchestra     Jingle Bells From Capitol Records     1:21

 Christmas Cocktails

 

Ultra-Lounge Volume Five...Wild, Cool and Swingin'.....finger snappin' vocals and cocktails after dark

Tracklist 
1 –Dean Martin Ain't That A Kick In The Head 2:25
2 –Sam Butera and The Witnesses Dig That Crazy Chick 2:26
3 –Bobby Darin More 2:25
4 –Peggy Lee Fever 3:21
5 –Louis Prima Jump, Jive, An' Wail 3:30
6 –Sammy Davis, Jr. Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone 2:40
7 –Wayne Newton Danke Schöen 2:36
8 –Sam Butera and The Witnesses French Poodle 2:27
9 –Keely Smith What Is This Thing Called Love? 1:54
10 –Bobby Darin Sunday In New York 2:30
11 –Louis Prima Closer To The Bone 4:13
12 –Lou Rawls Nobody But Me 2:48
13 –Vic Damone Little Girl 2:02
14 –Nat King Cole L-O-V-E 2:34
15 –Dean Martin Volare (Nel Blu Di Pinto Di Blu) 3:00
16 –Louis Prima and Keely Smith That Old Black Magic 2:57
17 –Julie London You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To 2:16
18 –Bobby Darin Hello, Dolly! 3:14

Ultra-Lounge Vol.5

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Ultra-Lounge Volume Six...Rhapsodesia...music and Martinis for lovers only

This is one of the more LAID BACK albums in the Ultra-Lounge series and is an excellent example of the "lounge" genre.

Classic mid century modern music, it's like a soundtrack to Mad Men. Lush arrangements:" Sleep Walk"," Smoke Gets In Your Eyes", "Tenderly", "Girl Talk", and the" Theme From Picnic". Sexy, fun lyrics performed by amazing female vocalists: "Go Slow" by Julie London, "You're My Thrill" by Dolores Gray, and "Do It Again" by April Stevens. Also notable are "Serenata" by the Jonah Jones Quartet and Jackie Gleason's "Tenderly".

For those who are uninitiated, I recommend this as an excellent entry into the genre...though really any of the Ultra Lounge collections would do about as well.

Rhapsodesia

Pink Martini..Sympathique...stunning 1997 debut album from a talented collection of musicians

Pink Martini's wildly popular debut, released in 1997, has sold nearly a million copies to date. Described as "breathtaking" by The New Yorker, Sympathique is timeless and beautiful. It is a cohesive blend of Cuban, French, Greek, Japanese, Italian, Spanish, classical, and Brazilian music. It was a big hit in Europe and one of the cuts was included on one of the trendy Parisian Hotel Costes' CDs. The music is hard to classify- Jazz? Latin? House? Retro? Whatever you want to call it, it is marvelous, sophisticated, quirky, cosmopolitan, and international. The group comes out of Portland Oregon and includes 14 talented musicians, covering vocals, trumpet, trombone, violin, cello, bass, guitar, piano, and percussion. Two cuts are augmented with the addition of a string orchestra and children's choir.

While the cocktail lounge fad has seen more than a few musicians climb aboard as a career move, the members of Pink Martini are no bandwagon-riding aficionados. Fronted by pianist Thomas Lauderdale, Pink Martini is the real article--a band that approaches the music with unwavering seriousness yet never forgets the fun at the heart of it. Sympathique, the band's debut album reveals an incredibly diverse musical vocabulary on the part of front man Lauderdale. What singer China Forbes may lack in range and dynamics, she more than compensates for in attack, approach, and a clear understanding of the material. While most of the songs are upbeat, in the hands of Lauderdale and Forbes, "Qué será será," with its dark atmospherics should be rechristened "Qué será noir." --Wayne Pernu..Amazon.com

1. Amado Mio
2. No Hay Problema
3. Sympathique
4. Que Sera Sera
5. La Soledad
6. Donde Estas, Yolanda?
7. Andalucia
8. Song Of The Black Lizard
9. Never On Sunday
10. Brazil
11. Lullaby

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Ultra Lounge Vol. 4..Bachelor Pad Royale...Midnight Music for Cool Cats

Jazzy, Snazzy Tunes for your Space-Age Bachelor Pad!

Oh, this one really swings! Quite possibly the best in the Ultra Lounge series, this one never fails to please. From the tickling ivories opening the "Theme from Route 66" (a song that makes you feel like you've gone back in time) to the fading wails of "Melancholy Serenade" (Jackie Gleason's theme song), you're in for a fun, cool, sexy ride!

People say "Sexe" is a little too obvious. Well, yeah, it is, but the real fun comes during the sax solo, which has the power to ease you into a relaxing calm...but not too relaxed! On the other end of the spectrum is the rocking, rollicking "Night Train" which (along with the suspicious and menacing "A Shot in the Dark" and the superior "Street Scene '58") is the most blasting tune that disturbs the general ease and quiet of the disc. Although Sam Butera's double-shot of "The Boulevard of Broken Dreams" and "Fever" isn't so meek, either. "Boulevard" is Sam at his raspy best, and "Fever" is no less than hilarious (listen to those deep-voiced guys chanting "Feva!")

Martin Denny turns in an excellent "Harlem Nocturne." "Topsy" takes it nice 'n easy here on an organ (sounds great), but is shown up by Cy Coleman's lovely "Playboy's Theme," from the Playboy show in the '60s. A bachelor's anthem accompanied by a soft touch on the ride cymbal and a gracefully jazzy piano, this tune is just as can be expected--smooth, silky, and sexy, leisurely floating along on gossamer strings.

See also Bossa Novaville on this blog.

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Ultra Lounge Vol.14 Bossa Novaville ... various artists..Cool and Swinging Lounge Sounds

So Cool..So Sexy..So Rio...So Ipanema

Flying down to Rio? No need to. These 18 velvet Brazilian Bossa-beaters are smoother than scratch-free Formica and cooler than a Frigidaire. 

In the 50's and 60s, dancing the Bossa Nova was the most cool and fashionable thing to do and be seen doing! There were many clubs where you could dance to it and Bossa Nova parties were all the rage.

Just the thing for your next poolside party. So, stick around, you're in Sambatown. Suave!

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The Best of Paolo Conte..elegant and seductive rhythms with a touch of Tango

Italian singer-songwriter Paolo Conte is famous for his gravelly voice – often compared to singer-poets such as Tom Waits and Leonard Cohen - his elegant and seductive rhythms, melodies and lyrics that sometimes veer towards hot jazz or bar-room tangos. It is a music of memories - half true, half dreams, poetic fragments of colors, images and fantasies.

He is a completely original talent, and his leathery, life-weary face on the cover is the first clue to the evocative music of this poet, painter, musician, and lawyer from Asti in northern Italy. Observations on the tide of human existence deftly rendered in vividly poetic lines that startle with their originality are highlighted in smoky vignettes of '40s jazz- and tango-inflected tunes, teetering between Cabaret, The Circus, and 42nd Street. Conte's unfiltered raspy voice is the perfect vehicle for his poignant view of the foibles of adult life mused from the corner barstool, admiring women whose "pungent smells [beckon] him like an old-fashioned grocery, its doors flung open to the spring outside." The music is a treat in itself, but the real gold is to be found in his lyrics, and luckily translations are in the liner notes. --Derek Rath (Amazon review)

This album is a collection of 20 of his finest recordings...


1. Elisir
2. Sotto Le Stelle Del Jazz
3. Via Con Me
4. Boogie
5. Sparring Partner
6. Come Di
7. Azzurro
8. Gelato Al Limon
9. Happy Feet
10. Gli Impermeabili
11. Max
12. Gong-Oh
13. Colleghi Trascurati
14. Bartali
15. Alle Prese Con Una Verde Milonga
16. Dragon
17. Hemingway
18. Ho Ballato Di Tutto
19. Quadrille
20. Genova Per Noi

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