Wax of the Week #20...Al Caiola: Sounds for Spies and Private Eyes (1965)

Not the most dynamic spy jazz record in the world (too brassy, for one thing), but it does include a couple of decent tracks. “Underwater Chase” was written by the record’s producer, LeRoy Holmes, and “Baker Street Mystery” is from the 1965 Sherlock Holmes Broadway play.

Wax of the Week #19...The Agents: Themes for Secret Agents (1967)

Spy jazz evolved out of crime jazz in the mid-’60s, mainly inspired by the early James Bond scores and the future-pointing feel of the era. It classed up crime with some twangy surf guitar and brought it out of dark alleys and smoky taverns, into mid-century modern lairs and cocktail parties. I'll be posting several superior examples of spy jazz in the future, but for now here's a low-key (and rather mediocre) studio musician cash-in example from Sunset/Liberty that veers more to the easy listening side.

Wax of the Week #18...v/a: Afro-American Spirituals, Work Songs, and Ballads (1952)

Astounding Alan Lomax recordings from 1930s southern prisons and work farms, released by our very own Library of Congress. An aural time machine with not an ounce of self-consciousness; it’s the “real deal” as they say.