Wonderland Love Stories, Chapter 2: Good Morning Heartache CD

The Wonderland series -- which made an impressive debut with its savvy but festive Christmas albums -- returns in time for Valentine's Day with Wonderland Love Stories, Chapter 2: Good Morning Heartache. Like their predecessors, the Wonderland Love Stories albums mix current and classic renditions of vocal jazz and pop standards. This time, however, romance -- specifically, the sour side of it -- is the focus, and on Good Morning Heartache there are many prime examples of songs about breakups, misunderstandings, and yearning, from Sarah Vaughan's wonderfully theatrical "Lonely Hours" to the smoky melancholy of Chris Connor's "Angel Eyes" to the deep indigo moodiness of Nina Simone's "Don't Explain." While some of the more modern recordings on the album don't have the presence of the aforementioned songs or of Billie Holiday's "Body and Soul" or Dinah Washington's "Drinking Again," Rickie Lee Jones' "Smile" and Mark Fontana's "December in My Soul" rival the classic recordings included here. Other standout tracks include Peggy Lee's "I'll Be Around," Chet Baker's "You Don't Know What Love Is," and Jane Monheit's "I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good)." Perhaps the strongest collection in the Wonderland Love Stories series, Wonderland Love Stories, Chapter 2: Good Morning Heartache offers a compelling mix of vintage and contemporary songs about heartbreak. ~ Heather Phares

Sarah Vaughan/Nina Simone/ Peggy Lee

Liner Note Author: R.J. Smith.

Authors: Don Ray; Gene DePaul; Arthur Herzog, Jr.; Billie Holiday.

Illustrator: Andy Engel.