Today's spotlight is on two releases from él Records from bossa nova legend Silvia Telles and easy-listening vocal group The Johnny Mann Singers!

In recent years, the él label has issued bossa nova -centric reissues and anthologies from some of the genre's leading lights including Antonio Carlos Jobim, Joao Gilberto, Joao Donato, Vinicius De Moraes, and Luis Bonfá.  The Cherry Red imprint has just added a new release from Silvia Telles to that list.  Telles, who tragically died in a car accident at just 32 years old in 1966, was one of Jobim's early champions.  Their all-too-short-lived collaboration is celebrated on Amor De Gente Moça: Musicas de Antonio Carlos Jobim.

This new 29-track anthology features Amor De Gente Moça (Young Love), Telles' original 1959 album devoted entirely to the fresh Jobim catalogue.  Jobim penned a number of songs specifically for Telles' third full-length LP, including its opening track, the soon-to-be-standard "Dindi."  Both the composer and the artist were in an incredibly prolific period; Telles recorded two albums in 1959 over a four-month span, and eighteen of the twenty-four songs she recorded were all Jobim compositions.  (The young bossa nova scene was a tight one; for a time in her late teenage years, Telles was romantically involved with Joao Gilberto.)  Amor De Gente Moça helped introduce the world to Silvia; before long, she was being flown to the United States to collaborate with the likes of Nelson Riddle and Barney Kessel.  Beyond the twelve original album tracks, él has added Telles' interpretations of 17 more Jobim classics such as "Quiet Night of Quiet Stars", "One Note Samba" and "Someone to Light Up My Life" - all sung in their original Portuguese and recorded between 1957 and 1960.  Before her life was cut short, Telles released nine albums and eighteen singles.  This collection joins él's previous Telles release, The Voice I Love.

The second él release collects three albums by The Johnny Mann Singers originally issued on Liberty Records between 1956 and 1960: Night, Roar Along with the Singing 20s, and Swing Along with the Singin' 30s.  Signed by Liberty's Si Waronker (father of producer Lenny), Mann carved out a niche as both an album artist and a session background group.  Having backed artists from Frank Sinatra to Nat "King" Cole, The Singers would score their biggest hit under their own name in 1967 with their rendition of Jimmy Webb's "Up, Up and Away."  The recording netted them a Grammy Award as well as a hit on both sides of the Atlantic.  But él goes all the way back to the Singers' first album, Night, on which they were billed as "The Johnnie Mann Singers."  A "concept album" of standards revolving around the title word, it attracted more attention for its provocative cover of a nude model than for its content.  The smoky mood music of Night was followed by a release of college alma maters (called, appropriately enough, Alma Mater) and then by the two albums collected here: Roar Along with the Singing 20s and Swing Along with the Singin' 30s.  Produced by Felix Slatkin, both LPs were decidedly more rollicking than Night, nostalgically celebrating past eras with a number of hit songs that are still familiar today: "Yes, Sir, That's My Baby," "Sweet Georgia Brown" and "Baby Face" (from The Singing '20s) and "I Got Rhythm," "The Very Thought of You" and "East of the Sun (West of the Moon)" (from The Swinging '30s).

Both releases from él are issued in accordance with current E.U. public domain laws, and both feature liner notes as well as original album artwork.  You can order these at the links below!

Silvia Telles, Amor De Gente Moça: Musicas de Antonio Carlos Jobim (él ACMEM306CD, 2016) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

1. Dindi
2. De Voce, Eu Gosto (I Like You)
3. Discussao (Discussion)
4. Sem Voce (Without You)
5. Fotografia (Photograph)
6. Janelas Abertas (Open Windows)
7. Demais (Too Much)
8. O Que Tinha De Ser (What Had to Be)
9. A Felicidade (Happiness)
10. Canta, Canta Mais (Sing, Sing Some More)
11. So Em Teus Bracos (Only in Your Arms)
12. Esquecendo Voce (Forgetting You)
13. Eu Preciso de Voce (I Need You)
14. Eu Sei Que Vou Te Amar (I Know I Will Love You)
15. Samba Torto (Pardon My English)
16. Corcovado (Quiet Night of Quiet Stars)
17. Samba de Uma Nota So (One Note Samba)
18. Por Causa De Voce (Gardez Moi Pour Toujours)
19. Cala Meu Amor (Quiet My Love)
20. E Preciso Dizer Adeus (I Need You)
21. Magoa (Sorrow)
22. Caminhos Cruzados (Crossroads)
23. Estrada do Sol (Road to the Sun)
24. Aula de Matematica (Math Class)
25. Por Causa de Voce (Because of You)
26. Sucedeu Assim (It Happened Like That)
27. Se Todos Fossem Iguais a Voce (Someone to Light Up My Life)
28. Foi A Noite (It Was the Night)
29. Eu Nao Existo Sem Voce (I Don't Exist Without You) - Sylvia Telles and Lucio Alves

Tracks 1-12 from Amor De Gente Moça, 1959
Tracks 13-14 from Canta Para Gente Moça EP, 1959
Tracks 15-18 from Amor em Hi-Fi, 1960
Tracks 19-24 from Silvia, 1959
Tracks 25-28 from Caricia, 1957
Track 29 rec. c. 1959

The Johnny Mann Singers, Night/The '20s/The '30s (él ACMEM305CD, 2016) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

1. Through a Long and Sleepless Night
2. How Blue the Night
3. Midnight Sun
4. Deep Night
5. The Night We Called It a Day
6. My Night for the Blues
7. The Way You Look Tonight
8. The Night Has a Thousand Eyes
9. The Night is Young
10. You and the Night and the Music
11. In the Still of the Night
12. The Varsity Drag
13. My Blue Heaven
14. Baby Face
15. Margie
16. Yes Sir, That's My Baby
17. Sweet Georgia Brown
18. Black Bottom
19. Doodle Doo Doo
20. Five Foot, Two Eyes of Blue
21. Somebody Stole My Gal
22. I'm Looking Over a Four-Leaf Clover
23. You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby
24. The Music Goes Round and Round
25. I'm Confessin' That I Love You
26. You're an Old Smoothie
27. East of the Sun (West of the Moon)
28. Moonglow
29. In a Shanty in Old Shanty Town
30. I Got Rhythm
31. The Very Thought of You
32. Lazy Bones
33. It's the Talk of the Town
34. Stompin' at the Savoy

Tracks 1-11 from Night, Liberty LRP 3021, 1956
Tracks 12-22 from Roar Along with the Singing '20s, Liberty LRP 3149, 1959
Tracks 23-34 from Swing Along with the Singin' '30s, Liberty LRP 3156, 1960