by David Sterritt “There are certain things that I really object to singing about, and I won’t sing them. I prefer to sing about – oh, love. And life supporting things.” One of the sturdiest personalities on the pop music scene, smoky-voiced Peggy Lee has built a fabulous career out[…]

by Marshall Berges Seated at a Steinway baby grand, snapping her fingers and swaying almost imperceptibly, the champagne blonde flickers a smile and touches the piano keys. Striking chords to accompany herself, she sings songs old and new in a seductively breathy style. Now soft and delicate, now husky and[…]

by Rick Soll The whiteness of her room is excessive, hypnotic, vaguely disturbing. It is white without lightness, without wings. The lady on the bed is quiet, a papery presence whose movements flutter in the wind of drowsy words, whose every gesture seems meticulously ordered, consciously summoned. The eyes blink.[…]

by Gary Giddins Anita O’Day pounces onto the stage of Reno Sweeney in a flash of auburn. Sharp, tough, she swings into her theme, “Waves,” cuts it short, gets down to business. “Let’s play nightclub,” she says and her flannel voice paces “There Will Never Be Another You.” She allows[…]

by Jan Hodenfield She brings to mind, Miss Peggy Lee, Liz Taylor’s 40-carat diamond. On the afterthought of a stage at the Waldorf’s Empire Room, where she opened last Thursday evening to an audience in cocktail dresses and double-knit suits, in front of a 21-piece orchestra and backed by a[…]

by Len Epand Los Angeles – What do you do when Peggy Lee asks you to dinner? Well, if you’re Paul McCartney, you just don’t buy a bottle of rare champagne to show your appreciation. You sit at your piano and compose her a song. That’s what Paul did when[…]