Fantastic Voyage

Fantastic Voyage

Lita Roza was a great jazz singer born too late. The star of the Ted Heath band had her biggest hit with a 1953 cover version of childhood classic “How Much Is That Doggie in the Window?” — a song she despised. The British singer seemed poised for super-stardom, but despite her popularity and critical acclaim, the rock ‘n roll zeitgeist dashed those dreams in the late ’50s.

Around that time, Roza began to focus her attention on television and continued to perform for decades. Love Songs for Night People — an excellently descriptive title — collects some of Roza’ s best romantic ballads. Most of the songs, from “Wild Is the Wind” to “In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning,” are familiar.

Roza is a slow, clear-voiced singer, hanging on every syllable with an actress’ gift for emphasis and emotion. She doesn’t showboat with vocal acrobatics; she does each tune justice. The compilation’s few fast tracks, such as “Mama (He Treats Your Daughter Mean),” make one wonder whether Roza wouldn’t have survived a transition to rock.