Lauded for her 1952 underground hit ‘Twisted’, the Englander Annie Ross achieved enduring fame when she joined up to form the iconic vocal trio Lambert, Hendricks & Ross. Pony Poindexter was one of the top-flight saxophonists of his era, recording with the likes of Charlie Parker, Dexter Gordon, and Eric Dolphy. The back-up band, the Berlin All-Stars, consists of the cream of the American ex-patriot crop, as well as two top European players. Annie and Pony are rockin’ as they sing the crazy story of Louis Jordan’s Saturday Night Fish Fry. Pony sings Oscar Brown’s poignant lyrics to All Blues, followed by a series of outstanding solos. Jon Hendrick’s scrumptious lyrics on Horace Silver’s Home Cooking has Annie taking the melody as well as practicing some vocalise. Pony scats a solo that should make you hungry for more. Annie and Pony sing the Basie classic Jumpin’ at the Woodside in unison, with stand-out solos from Carmell Jones and Leo Wright. The 1952 classic Moody’s Mood for Love became a part of jazz history when Eddie Jefferson put words to James Moody’s 1949 sax solo on I’m in the Mood for Love. Miss Ross takes on this beautiful tongue-twister with aplomb. Annie and Pony stroll through the blues on Basie’s Goin’ to Chicago, as Saxophonist Wardell Gray’s Twisted brings the session to an end. Ross’s lyrics to Gray’s solo have become a sharp-witted tongue-in-cheek jazz classic. Annie, Pony, and the gang have serious fun on some of the hippest vocal jazz standards. If you dig jazz singing and vocalese, it’s an album ya gotta have.