Woody Herman, Frank Wess – Jazz for Lovers, Vol. 1 (2019)

"Jazz is the expression of America's romantic self, its sensual potency, its lyrical force", according to Anaïs Nin. The author of the erotic essays in 'Delta of Venus' certainly knew what she was talking about - and it is not unlikely that she was talking about the music in this collection, as this unique 10 CD-box set presents lyrical, sensual, and thoroughly romantic mood music by some of Jazz' greatest players. Titles like 'Jazz for Playboys' by Frank Wess, the George Shearing/Red Norvo classic 'Midnight On Cloud 69', Mundell Lowe's 'Blues For A Stripper', or Richie Kamuca's 'Jazz Erotica' leave as little to the imagination, as do the scandalously unclad 'vinyl vixens' on the covers of these original albums. On a few occasions even the artists themselves - namely Abbey Lincoln and Eartha Kitt - wore as little as possible. With excellent recordings spanning the period from 1949 to 1962 these ballads, blues and bebop-beauties are sure to get you in the mood.