Blossom's swinging, sassy best; not for purists
Blossom Dearie is a litmus test unto herself. It's not question of "Beatles or Stones?," "cats or dogs?," "dark chocolate or milk?," or even "France Gall or Françoise Hardy?" (or "Dorothy Ashby or Alice Coltrane?" for that matter). But quite simply: "Blossom Dearie?" Blossom is a sweet whisper, the antithesis of all the celebrated jazz divas. No one answers the question with a "maybe."
For those who answer "yes", I suspect that the early Verve albums are the most typical favorites. I, however, keep coming back to this one. Maybe it's the perky trombone riffs that open the first track (as refreshing as being handed a latte in bed on a Saturday morning) or Blossom's ace version of "Charade" that starts side two, softer yet more urgent and far better than anything on the original soundtrack of the same name.
Unlike the Verve albums, Blossom doesn't play the piano here. "May I Come In?" is her big band bossa nova album. It's generally as perky and sassy as anything Blossom has done, and steers clear of more sentimental territory that shows up on some of her other albums (where I find Blossom somewhat lacking). For those who like Astrud Gilberto's solo albums or who have discovered the lovely shades of Chris Montez's A&M albums, this album is the ticket.