Two splendid Capitol albums, given the Pure Pleasure reissue treatment (with excellent sound and authentic packaging). The Nancy Wilson LP, made with a small group of top-notch jazzers, is often dismissed (as is Wilson herself) by the jazz police for veering too far into mainstream soul and pop; in both cases, this is an unfair charge. The balladic material she tackles here has impeccable jazz cred, consisting as it does of tunes by Ellington, Berlin, Arlen, Van Heusen and Gershwin; it’s played and sung impeccably by all those present, and while it could be described as ‘dinner party jazz’, that’s not always a bad thing. Seductive, warm and easy, it’s a minor triumph.

Lee’s record is more complex, as befits a singer of her intelligence. She knew which way the wind was blowing: by the late 1960s, Lee was ‘our parents’ music’. But she had a mega-hit with Is That All There Is?, its world-weary cyncism (the title track, featuring a superlative, sparse Randy Newman arrangement influenced by 1920s German cabaret, became a classic) and astute choice of contemporary material – brilliant versions of George Harrison’s ‘Something’, Neil Diamond’s ‘Brother Love’s Traveling Salvation Show’, Leiber & Stoller’s ‘I’m a Woman’ (another smash), and Randy Newman’s ‘Love Story’ – struck a chord with record buyers, including young hip Boomers. The moody remake of Lee’s 1940s hit ‘Don’t Smoke in Bed’ was another shrewd choice.

Is That All There Is? comprises essentially the same jazz-pop with which Peggy made her name in the 1940s, but skilfully updated and brought into the (then) modern world with huge commercial and artistic success. Absolutely superb.