The Very Best of Julie London [2006] in Bloomington, MN

The Very Best of Julie London
offers an extensive overview of
London
's recording career with 50 selections she cut for
Liberty Records
between 1955 and 1969. The tracks are not newly remastered for the most part, but are taken from
EMI
's series of import two-fers and the domestic reissues
Ron Furmanek
and
Bob Norberg
produced in the early '90s.
was an album artist, not a singles artist -- she had only one hit single in her long career -- but she was a consistent favorite with
adult contemporary
vocal jazz
audiences and recorded over 20 LPs. Her albums often sustained a certain mood or assembled songs around a theme, but
chops up her albums and rearranges the songs in no particular order -- the repertoire and sequencing seem almost random. The booklet provides no recording dates or session information, but readers can learn from which albums most of the tracks hail by wading through the liner notes. The anthology is useful for those who would like to sample
's 1960s album catalog without investing in several import CDs, but
Julie Is Her Name, Vols. 1-2
remains the best introduction to the music of this sultry, sexy vocalist. ~ Greg Adams