Bing Crosby

Bing! His Legendary Years, 1931-1957

MCA Records

Billie Holiday

Lady Day: The Master Takes and Singles

Columbia Legacy Records

Ella Fitzgerald

Something to Live For

Verve Records

Sarah Vaughan

Young Sassy

Proper Records

Nat King Cole

The Best of the Nat King Cole Trio: The Instrumental Classics/The Vocal Classics

Blue Note Records

Frank Sinatra

The Capitol Years

EMI Records

BING CROSBY

Bing! His Legendary Years, 1931-1957

MCA Records

This four-disc set from 1994 is the best package of Crosby’s best years. It documents the arc of his career from the early jazz years, through the crooning radio and film years of the 1940s and into the modern pop-song television era. In doing so, it accomplishes the monumental task of representing all styles with which he is most often associated—swing, ballads, novelties, cowboy songs, holiday tunes and even the travel trifles of Hawaii and Ireland.Among the early gems included are “I Found a Million Dollar Baby,” “Dancing in the Dark” and “Stardust.” From Crosby’s popular holiday songbook are “White Christmas,” “Silent Night,” “O Come All Ye Faithful,” and “Silver Bells.” But the lion’s share of this 101-song collection is devoted to the standards of the Great American Songbook as interpreted with that marvelous, unmatched Crosby baritone.

BILLIE HOLIDAY

Lady Day: The Master Takes and Singles

Columbia Legacy Records

When it comes to Billie Holiday’s most fruitful years on Columbia records, fans have several formats from which to choose. Those on a limited budget can go with the single-disc “God Bless the Child” from 1996 or 2001’s double-disc “Lady Day: The Best of Billie Holiday.” For the completist, there is the 10-CD “The Complete Billie Holiday on Columbia (1933-1944),” also released in 2001. We recommend the middle path, the wonderful four-disc 2007 entry entitled “Lady Day: The Master Takes and Singles,” a collection of 80 superb recordings made between 1935 and 1942. The sound is great, the selections are unimpeachable, and the performances are flawless, reaffirming Holiday as likely the best jazz singer of all time.

ELLA FITZGERALD

Something to Live For

Verve Records

Fitzgerald recorded from the early 1930s well into the 1980s—an incredible output—and much of it is first-rate. But we give the nod to this 1999 two-disc collection of 30 songs, ranging from 1935 to 1966. “Something to Live For” is a companion to the TV documentary of the same name, which appeared on the PBS series “American Masters.” Importantly, it contains eight selections from her early years with Decca, including the iconic “A-Tisket, A-Tasket.” Among the other career highlights are “How High the Moon,” “But Not for Me,” and “Angel Eyes.”

SARAH VAUGHAN

Young Sassy

Proper Records

We can recommend 2001’s “Young Sassy,” without reservation, for a number of reasons. Whereas early recordings of Holiday and Fitzgerald were often inferior to their later work—usually due to weak material—Vaughan’s beginnings were more auspicious. Her voice was always magical, and the tunes here are largely drawn from the standards. Also, this four-disc collection contains her entire output between 1944 and 1950, an amazing 94 songs, at the very reasonable cost of less than $30.

NAT KING COLE

The Best of the Nat King Cole Trio: The Instrumental Classics/The Vocal Classics

Blue Note Records

Since Nat Cole’s later recordings often suffer from a poor choice of material and overproduction, it is wise to start at the beginning. The three discs included in “Best of Nat King Cole: The Instrumental Classics/The Vocal Classics” present 62 tracks from the trio’s productive years of 1944 to 1950. The instrumental and vocal excellence presented here may come as a surprise to the unfortunate listener who knows only the Nat King Cole of “Ramblin’ Rose,” “Mona Lisa,” “Those Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days of Summer” and “Cat Ballou.”

FRANK SINATRA

The Capitol Years

EMI Records

Few critics disagree that Sinatra’s middle period, his Capitol years from 1953 to 1961, produced his finest hours of recorded music in a career than spanned six decades. You can’t go wrong with any of the individual releases of the Capitol decade, so why not own them all? Either save up your money and purchase this 21-CD boxed set or buy the CDs individually, as I have over the last decade or so. This 1998 EMI British import gets kudos for its purportedly superior sound over the individual domestic re-masters that were issued in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The mammoth 272-track collection is also outrageously expensive, upwards of $600. Proponents claim that Sinatra’s voice is brighter, more alive, here than on the U.S. versions, but these esoteric arguments are subjective and fail to justify the cost, unless you happen to be independently wealthy.