This collection of Sarah Vaughan's 1950s albums is the absolute pick of her work from that period. It includes the session with Clifford Brown, the Swingin' Easy date with her trio, and the live session from Mister Kelly's Chicago club. And then, to top it all, her collaboration with the Basie band (with her own accompanist Ronnell Bright taking the piano chair) on No Count Sarah. As a result, we hear her in Ernie Wilkins' neatly crafted arrangements for Brown's sextet, balancing the solo talents of Brown, Paul Quinichette and Herbie Mann; we have a sample of her regular trio's work in the studio and on stage; and we can hark back to the skills she developed as she got her start as a big band vocalist, singing with the Earl Hines orchestra. There are too many highlights to list them all, but her poised ‘April in Paris’ from the Clifford Brown date, the smile in her voice as she negotiates ‘Shulie a Bop’ with the trio, and the devil-may-care ‘Just One of Those Things’ in a live setting are great examples. So too is ‘Darn That Dream’ with the big band, but everyone will have their own favourites from this cornucopia of excellence. There would be later, greater, Vaughan on record in the years to come, but this collection is a perfect starting point.