Peggy Lee ★★★ Something Wonderful: Peggy Lee Sings The Great American Songbook OMNIVORE. CD/DL

Jazz singer’s early 1950s radio recordings

Never one for embroidering a melody with athletic twists and turns, Peggy Lee made simplicity a virtue with her conversational singing style and laconic approach to musical storytelling. Though she was a prolific songwriter with over 200 copyrights to her name, this new 2-CD retrospective reveals that the North Dakota singer was also an astute interpreter of songs from the Great American Songbook. Compiled from early-’50s radio broadcasts, the compilation mostly focuses on the immortal compositions of Johnny Mercer (That Old Black Magic), Rodgers & Hart (Lover), Hoagy Carmichael (Georgia On My Mind) and Frank Loesser (Baby, It’s Cold Outside), but the inclusion of a few of the chanteuse’s own tunes (including the delightful US charttoppers It’s A Good Day and Mañana) show that she was an accomplished composer whose work deserved a place in the Great American Songbook. Charles Waring