During the late '50s, Ella Fitzgerald continued her Song Book records with Sings the George and Ira Gershwin Song Book, releasing a series of albums featuring 59 songs written by George and Ira Gershwin. Those songs, plus alternate takes, were combined on a four-disc box set, Sings the George and Ira Gershwin Song Book, in 1998. These performances are easily among Fitzgerald's very best, and for any serious fan, this is the ideal place to acquire the recordings, since the sound and presentation are equally classy and impressive.© Leo Stanley /TiVo

Her label originally suggested an album of covers, but Ayo has too many personal things to express to accept such an offer. Perhaps relics of this original idea, three pre-existing songs are nevertheless present on the track list of this fifth album from the German-Nigerian singer: Né quelque part by Maxime Le Forestier, Throw It Away by Abbey Lincoln and Fool’s Gold by the late Lhasa. The artist who made a name for herself in 2007 with her hit Down On My Knees casts aside the folk guitar that she seemed so inseparable from previously, in order to focus on her voice, which is lit up by Freddy Koella’s stripped back arrangements. Ayo transports her clear vocals and warm interpretations to the core these infinitely delicate songs (Rest Assured, with its hesitant piano), tender and sensitive (Fix Me Up and its bluesy guitars), but also sometimes groovy (Afro Blue, which only features a cymbal and a pizzicato double bass). Among some other gems of the album are some slower retro tracks (Just Like I Can’t) and a surprising piece which blends rhythmic reggae and nostalgic jazz (I’m in Love). At the crossroads between soul and folk, Ayo’s graceful, sensitive and intimate melodies make you glad she chose to offer up some original tracks. © Nicolas Magenham/Qobuz

At just 18, Billie Eilish is the youngest artist to have recorded the theme song for a James Bond film. She follows in the footsteps of Shirley Bassey, Nancy Sinatra or, more recently, Madonna and Adele. Written by Eilish and Finneas O'Connell (her brother and regular collaborator), the song for this 25th James Bond film keeps in step with the Californian's voluptuously melancholic style, while respecting the lyrical requirements of this type of exercise. Another staple is the famous theme composed by Monty Norman, which features in Gun Barrel. That theme is accompanied by a few nods to composer John Barry, who wrote the James Bond soundtracks until 1987. And so, in Good To Have You Back, we have the immense pleasure of hearing the main theme from On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969). And in Matera, listeners will recognise the melody of We Have All the Time in the World, the theme song from that same film, immortalised by Louis Armstrong. How did Hans Zimmer manage to find his way through this maze of references and must-have snippets? Called to the rescue after the defection of Dan Romer, the composer of Interstellar and Gladiator took three months to write a soundtrack that fulfils its role perfectly. The muscular percussion and electronic sounds are combined effectively with a symphony orchestra and an electrifying choir (the London Voices ensemble, a regular in Hollywood blockbusters since 1986). Note also the presence of the former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr, among the soloists. © Nicolas Magenham/Qobuz

Because it contains its share of memorable and inspired material -- and even a few gems -- it seems inappropriate to call Tina Turner's Break Every Rule a disappointment. But because Private Dancer was so incredible a comeback, one greeted this anxiously awaited follow-up with such high expectations that anything less than outstanding would have been disappointing. And the album isn't outstanding -- it's generally quite enjoyable and far from weak -- but not outstanding. Be that as it may, there's a lot to savor here. "Two People" is forgettable, but Turner definitely has some gems in the power ballad "I'll Be Thunder," the driving rocker "Back Where You Started" and the haunting David Bowie piece "Girls." While Private Dancer would be a much better introduction to Turner's work as a solo artist, this has more pluses than minuses.© Alex Henderson /TiVo

J.J. Cale's guitar work manages to be both understated and intense here. The same is true of his seemingly offhand singing, which finds him drawling lines like "You get your gun, I'll get mine" with disarming casualness. But he has trouble coming up with original material as strong as that on his debut, and for some, his approach will be too casual; there are many times, when the band is percolating along and Cale is muttering into the microphone, that the music seems to be all background and no foreground. You may find yourself waiting for a payoff that never comes.© William Ruhlmann /TiVo

Peterson proves adept at reworking George Gershwin.© Ron Wynn /TiVo

Jazz singer/songwriter Michael Franks is an artist most jazz fans feel strongly about one way or another. His unique, romantic poet-cum-laid-back hipster approach to jazz signing is breezy, light, and languid. It's also uniquely his own, though deeply influenced by Brazilian jazz, bossa, and samba. Time Together, his first recording of new material in five years -- and his debut for Shanachie -- is unlikely to change anyone's opinion of him, but that doesn't mean this is a rote recording. Time Together is an airy, groove-ridden summer travelog that ranges from St. Tropez and New York to Paris, France, and Egypt; it journeys through the nostalgic past and finds space in the present moment, with cleverly notated, languorous, ironic observations about life. Franks split the production and arranging duties between Charles Blenzig, Gil Goldstein, Chuck Loeb, Scott Petito, and Mark Egan. The rest of the international cast on this polished 11-song set includes old friends and new faces David Spinozza, Mike Mainieri, David Mann, Eric Marienthal, Till Brönner, Alex Spiagin, Jerry Marotta, Billy Kilson, Romero Lubambo, and backing vocalist Veronica Nunn. Time Together is wonderfully polished without being overly slick. The set opens with "Now That the Summer's Here," a samba-inspired paean to laziness with excellent solos by Bronner's trumpet and Marienthal's alto. The arrangement by Loeb includes a perfectly balanced meld of acoustic and electric guitars, with the harmony chorus between Franks and Carmen Cuesta adding an essentially restrained yet celebratory tone. "One Day in St. Tropez" is one Franks' finest reminiscence songs. Goldstein's acoustic piano, Greg Cohen's bass, and Lubambo's acoustic guitar evoke classic bossa while the singer details in exotically rich, nostalgically romantic lyrics a 1963 hitchhiking excursion through Southern France. "Mice" is a humorous, metaphorically hip irony, illustrated beautifully by Manieri's vibes, Petito's bass, and Spinozza's guitar with a backing vocal from Beth Neilsen-Chapman. "Samba Blue," another of thew album's finer tracks, offers the tale of a long-ago love affair in Paris, without a hint of cloying or regret, thanks to Franks fine lyric and melody, and a jaunty Loeb arrangement featuring a beautiful alto solo by Marienthal. "My Heart Said Wow" is a straight-ahead duet with Nunn, boasting a fine trumpet solo by Spiagin's trumpet. "Feathers from an Angel's Wing," the longest and perhaps most beautiful track here is, fittingly, also the closer. Arranged by Egan, whose fretless bass introduces it, Loeb's guitars, Clifford Carter's keys, and Joe Bonadio's drums illustrate it elegantly. The singer's use of Zen wisdom in the modern jazz lyric and melody, underscores everything fine and right in Franks' art from The Art of Tea to the present day. While his framework may be contemporary, his execution is timeless, making Time Together Franks' most consistent, graceful collection of songs in the 21st century. © Thom Jurek /TiVo

Lost in the shuffle of the ever-growing High School Musical phenomenon -- growing so big, it can no longer be contained on the Disney Channel, it's now reaching theaters for its third and final installment -- is that the tween-sensation is actually a musical. Which means that despite its pop trappings, the soundtracks consist of full-blown show tunes, songs that serve the story and are sung by the rotating cast. This helps make the movies work, but it sentences the soundtracks to be mere souvenirs of the event, a record for fans to play endlessly, not a means to crossover to a wider pop audience. On HSM3, there are only two songs that stand out as potential pop singles, both not so coincidentally solo showcases for the franchise's two biggest stars, Vanessa Hudgens and Zac Efron. Hudgens has the album's best song in the slickly soulful "Walk Away" -- a tune that would have shown up Wilson Phillips circa 1990 -- that she sings better than Efron, whose "Scream" struts like *NSYNC circa 2000. But both are upstaged by stage brat Ashley Tisdale, who shows far more on-record charisma on her fame-hungry showcase "I Want It All," a song that has absolutely no chance of making sense outside of the senior skip-day plot line of High School Musical 3, but Tisdale performs with ingratiating vigor, using every chop she's learned as a stage kid. Of course, those very strengths are well-suited for a musical like High School Musical 3, where the songs are vehicles for showboating performances either on the screen or in a fan's bedroom -- and for those fans, this set, which is similar in every way to its two predecessors, will not disappoint.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

At the time of its release, no one knew quite what to make of this double-live LP -- the price was equivalent to a single platter, and the song lineup was alluring enough, but the Bee Gees weren't the kind of act that were very compelling in concert. Not that they didn't sell huge numbers of tickets, but it wasn't as though hundreds of bootleggers were sneaking tape recorders into their shows, or that Alan Kendall was going to cause Dickey Betts any sleepless nights with his slide or lead playing. Still, in the absence of a new studio LP for the spring of 1977, this live recording seemed like a good idea -- recorded at the Los Angeles Forum on Dec. 20, 1976, after the group had made its successful transformation into a white soul and disco act with Main Course and Children of the World. Here at Last captured the group at what any reasonable observer would have considered an obvious peak. Little did anyone realize that, even as the tapes from the show were being mixed in early 1977, the group was beginning work on an album that would dwarf everything they'd done up to that point, the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack -- as a result of which, Here at Last, which should have been the capstone to their comeback as a soul and disco act, became a footnote. Contained in its 84 minutes, however, were the best songs from the early phase of their soul/disco period, including "Nights on Broadway," "Love So Right," "You Should Be Dancin'," and "Jive Talkin'," all extended and enhanced, but also, from their 1967-1973 period, the hits "New York Mining Disaster 1941," "I've Gotta Get a Message to You," "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart," "To Love Somebody," "Lonely Days," "Run to Me," "World," and a medley that contained "Massachusetts," "I Started a Joke," and "Holiday." There was a bracing immediacy to their singing, with Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb delivering performances that were every bit as good as those on the studio originals, spiced with fresh variations in tempo and emphasis. In that regard, the versions of "Holiday" and "To Love Somebody," the latter offering a more soulful sound than the original single and a full horn accompaniment, might be the most beguiling performance of their entire career. Ironically, keyboard player Blue Weaver, who does such a good job here of matching the rhythms and the orchestrations on their early records, was also responsible for some of the more ambitious flourishes on Saturday Night Fever, which would swamp this record and the era it represented.© Bruce Eder /TiVo

Van Halen assembled their first live album, the double-disc Live: Right Here, Right Now, from a pair of shows performed in Fresno, California, in 1992. Their only live album to feature Sammy Hagar, the collection focused less on the David Lee Roth era, going so far as to include two of Hagar's solo songs ("One Way to Rock" and "Give to Live"). With the exception of the consistently impressive Eddie Van Halen, the album slows to a halt during the solo passages. Most of the time, the performances aren't all that different from the original studio recordings. Despite the moments of tedium, Live: Right Here, Right Now deserves to be in any real Van Halen fan's collection; those who aren't devoted to the band would be advised to stick with the original albums.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo