DIVAS DIVINE

SHIRLEY BASSEY
Greatest Hits (Capitol)
Now 64, British chanteuse Shirley Bassey made a name for herself more than 37 years ago when she crooned the 1964 theme song to the James Bond roller coaster Goldfinger. That song set off a string of finely crafted hits that leaked into the ’70s, most of which you’ll find here.

PHOEBE SNOW
Greatest Hits (Columbia/Legacy)
Dogged by personal tragedies and a
fading career, songstress Phoebe Snow has been out of the limelight for years. This compilation of hits and nuggets
is a powerful reminder of what we’ve been missing, equally capturing her contralto gymnastics and sweeping jazz-pop stylings.

JUDY GARLAND
Judy at Carnegie Hall (Capitol)
Forever embedded in most of America’s conscious as The Wizard of Oz’s Dorothy, Judy Garland was actually one of her generation’s most versatile singers, as this live effort from 1961 wholeheartedly reiterates. Throughout this disc, recorded at Carnegie Hall, Garland eases in and out of genres, from pop to Broadway, with all the ease of a master — which, in fact, she was.

— MALCOLM MAYHEW