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Joni James was a hugely successful American recording artist of the 1950s and ‘60s, having 25 hits by 1960, and was one of the few singers who were able to maintain the momentum of her career through from the middle-of-the-road pop era of the early ‘50s through into the post-rock ‘n’ roll era of the later decade and beyond. She was one of the first artists to concentrate on the album market, successfully releasing at least four a year through the formative years of the stereo LP boom. So prolific was she that it is hard to put together a representative collection of her albums, so we have chosen to bring together four albums from a period at the start of the 1960s which have a common thread, using the “Mood” concept in their titles. This 48-track 2-CD collection therefore comprises all the tracks from her themed albums for MGM, “I’m In The Mood For Love”, The Mood is Swinging”, “The Mood Is Romance” and “The Mood Is Blue”. Across the albums she works with the orchestras of Tony Acquaviva, Jack Marshall and Jimmie Haskell – on the “I’m In The Mood For Love” album she works within the “Hundred Strings And Joni” framework which she had previously established. She was a stylish performer of sophisticated pop, heard in this collection with interpretations of Great American Songbook standards, and it’s an enjoyably showcase for her distinctive approach.
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