Kim Nalley - Million Dollar Secret (1999)

Saxophonist John Firmin's Johnny Nocturne Band has long been riding the top of the heap in the retro-swing sweepstakes, doing it better and longer than anybody. However, the band got a major kick in the pants with the addition of vocalist supremo Kim Nalley. A grade-A throwback to Ivey Washington, Dinah Washington, and Helen Humes, Nalley seductively purrs these tunes to life, giving a great band a great vocalist to front them. There's lots of retro swing out there, but this is the stuff that not only sounds right, but actually cooks the way this music is supposed to. Great, simply great.~Million Dollar Secret Review by Cub Koda