Pat Suzuki - The Very Best of the RCA and Vik Recordings (1957-60) (2023)

Although rarely remembered today, Suzuki was a pop chanteuse who enjoyed moderate success in the 1950s. Although she never had a hit, her chops were impeccable and her interpretations of these old standards show a strong sense of how to put a song over. Her take on "How High the Moon," normally a frantic flag waver, is a classic case in point; here she interprets it with a slower, more reflective reading than it usually gets. Nice renditions of "Something's Gotta Give," "Fine and Dandy," "Anything Goes," "I Enjoy Being a Girl," and "The Lady Is a Tramp" make this a collection well worth investigating.

Review by Cub Koda