Best Nancy Wilson CDs

Ella...IMHO, in a different category--both great singers, but Ella had something I can't quite put my finger on. She had that amazing voice, sort of indescribable like Nat Cole. They set the bar!

Her very first album, Nancy Wilson and Cannonball Adderley is fantastic. First recorded in 1962, it is still a wonderfully well recorded album. Every other cut is an instrumental, with Cannonball, his brother Nat, and later of Weather Report, on piano, Joe Zawinall (sp?). Save Your Love For Me, Masquerade, are both exceptional cuts. I listened to this album on my suitcase style record player as a kid...now, rereleased, a Capitol, CD. I love this album. Yes Ms. Wilson is a singer for the ages, and probably the premier female singer of her genre subsequent to Ella.
Get it if you can, it's well worth owning.
Also, as a side note, her rendition of Johnny Mercer's "When October Comes" on another album which I can't remember the name of, is WELL worth owning too.

You know, back to that NW and Cannonball Adderley album...I listened to that on a tiny 'suitcase' like record player which was by my bed, as a kid of 12. I'd put it on and listen, falling asleep (putting it on repeat) and wake up to turn it off in the wee hours of the morning. (Cue orchestra)...
There's one passage in the song which is fascinating to me, from a creative standpoint. Nancy's lyrics are:
"I guess I'll have to sing (like) Pagliacci, and get myself a clown's disquise..." Obviously this references Leon Cavelle (?) I'm wrong on that, but it's close...work which is an opera about an unhappy husband, who I think, dressed as a clown is crying.
Anyway, with that cue, Joe Zawinall (sp?) does this BEAUTIFUL operatic flourish, intensifying Nancy's words; It's goosebump time remembering that. What a collaboration of musicians and music. It was simply magic.