This is one of two original 1954 10" LPs that marked Chris Connor's debut on Bethlehem Records. And Connor is especially lucky in that the great pianist Ellis Larkins is on hand to shepherd her through what turned out to be some of her greatest performances, songs like "Try A Little Tenderness," "All About Ronnie," and "Birdland" itself. Chris Connor is perhaps the quintessential '50s (white) jazz singer. While she doesn't possess the emotional or musical artistry of a June Christy or Helen Merrill, her performances are usually note-perfect, and straightforward to the point of bluntness. Audiences would have had little problem grasping what she was doing or where she was coming from. And, as can be heard through this exceptionally beautiful session, all her ballads have a certain rhapsodic quality, the payoff for hitting the notes squarely in the middle.