It’s simply staggering how many excellent female vocalists were kept under the radar during the 1950s. Peggy Connelly is a perfect example, as this reissue by Fresh Sound Records demonstrates. Her relationship with Frank Sinatra got her foot in the recording door, but her talents got her the sessions, as she sounds like a muscular June Christy. The informative liner notes chronicle her career, but the music speaks for itself, and the two sessions are extremely strong. A four song 1954 date with a Jimmy Rowles/p trio and string quartet delivers wondrously moody reads of “Trouble is a Man” and a take of Bobby Troup’s “Where Did the Gentlemen Go?”. In front of Russell Garcia’s Band with pete & Conte Condoli/tp, Charlie Mariano/as, Bill Holman/ts, Jimmy Giuffre/bs, among others, she oozes over “What Is There To Say?” and is wonderfully shadowy for “Alone Together” with an almost soto-voce. She shows she can swing it as on “That Old Black Magic” with some nice rhythm provided by Jack Costanzo’s bongos and Willy Gallardo’s timbales, while cooing out “It Never Entered My Mind.” If you’re a fan of the O’Day-Christy-Connor side of singing, this gal’s for you.