From Broadway With Love/Tender Loving Care

his two-fer CD brings together a pair of Nancy Wilson's mid-'60s dates for Capitol. Wilson's nuanced vocals might seem an awkward match with the over the top theatrics of the Great White Way, but From Broadway with Love bends the material to the singer's strengths, eschewing show tune dramatics in favor of subtle, atmospheric arrangements courtesy of Sid Feller. Wilson and Feller both approach the songs from a perspective rooted in traditional jazz and pop, gravitating to material that draws on the same inspirations -- moreover, selections like "He Loves Me" and "Here's That Rainy Day" play perfectly to the singer's remarkable capacity to articulate the exhilaration and heartache of romance. Tender Loving Care teams Wilson with arranger Billy May for a collection of romantic ballads and torch songs that capture the singer at her most sensuous. May's handling of songs like "Like Someone in Love" and "Try a Little Tenderness" boasts an uncommon sensitivity, deftly avoiding syrup and sentimentality in a far-ranging series of contexts that extend from lushly orchestral to starkly jazzy. And Wilson is at her best here, taking full command of the familiar songs and reanimating them with vocals that are bold, sophisticated, and daringly adult. ~ Jason Ankeny|