Carmen McRae - Birds of a Feather (Verve Vault Series)

Jazz singer Carmen McRae was already flying high as a Decca Records artist when the label devised an album they hoped listeners would flock to: Birds of a Feather, a long-playing collection of songs devoted wholly to nature's fine feathered friends. Thanks to McRae's endlessly-imitated gift for phrasing and the sharp orchestral direction of Ralph Burns, this is one record that's hardly (just) for the birds. The album pairs McRae’s poised, expressive delivery with lush, sophisticated orchestration on standards "Bye Bye Blackbird," "Skylark" and "When the Swallows Come Back to Capistrano," all of which balance swing and mood with aplomb and prove McRae was hardly ever just winging it on record. The Verve Vault series is all-analog, cut from the original master tapes by Ryan K. Smith at Sterling Sound and pressed on 180-gram vinyl.