"Eight Show Tunes From Scores by George Gershwin" by Lee Wiley (1939)

Shadowy figure in the history of Jazz, Lee Wiley was one of those rarefied artists known mainly to cult followers but the more one discovers about her, the more interesting her small discography looks. She also sounds uncannily as some predecessor of later Peggy Lee who used same smouldering, whispery style but with far greater commercial success. Its a very seductive, intimate voice that sounds like a warm cloak wrapped around the listener and perhaps harks back to great, neglected Mildred Bailey (another artist worth researching) so there is a definite link between generations here.

So far everything I heard from Wiley was top shelf and this early recording is no exception. She slowly burns trough eight Gershwin songs that are considered standards now but were fairly new back than - famously, Wiley was probably amongst the first recording the whole collection of music by certain composer - the backing is very elegant and unobtrusive, while Wiley croons like a siren and pulls you into some twilight zone that still sounds incredibly haunting decades after it was originally recorded. Musicians do get occasional instrumental "hot" moment but mostly its all about the voice and the lyrics performed with great sincerity and attention. The overall impression is of the late hours music in some elegant nightclub, all you need is a drink and a waiter re-filling your glass, while pretty lady on the stage does her magic. Timeless.