Of all the great jazz vocalists of the 1950s and ’60s, Chris Connor is perhaps the least well-known today. Despite making a string of classic records for Atlantic, she always seems to be mentioned (if at all) after June Christy, Carmen McRae, Chet Baker, Anita O’Day or even Julie London when lists of the top singers of the era are compiled. Still, she was quite popular at the time, and it’s very easy to hear why. Though she could swing with anyone, her true greatness came on the slow songs, the torchy ones that come from broken hearts and messed-up lives, and sound best filtered through the blue haze of smoke and low lights. Connor could sing these ballads like Hank Aaron hit home runs: effortlessly and with loads of power. Her deep and rich voice caressed the words tenderly and with great care, giving the feeling that she was singing to you and you alone. Her death this week gives us a chance to look back on some wonderful performances and celebrate her all-too-short career.

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Exhibiting the same kind of yuletide herd mentality that damned a million Cabbage Patch Kids, Tickle Me Elmos, and Atari 5600s to a lifetime of basement closet servitude (or in the latter’s case, ten-to-15 years spent in water-logged boxes outside of the local (pre-eBay) Salvation Army or St. Vincent de Paul before earning its “cool” back through the dark forces of nostalgia and irony), parents all over the world (and seemingly all at once) committed the ultimate holiday sin by replacing their tried and true seasonal favorites with Mannheim Steamroller’s impossibly lame Christmas 1984 album.

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Dim those bright lights just a little bit today, because a star is missing from the firmament. That’s right, celebrity (and singer and actor) Robert Goulet has died at the age of 73, while awaiting a lung transplant.

So, while you’re raising a drink, feast on the AMG-sanctioned greatest hits of his 50-year career, which takes you all the way from Camelot to Pixar. (And for his best work, if not the most popular, check out the disc that includes two of his solid early-’60s LPs, Two of Us/Begin to Love.)

• If Ever I Would Leave You [from Camelot] (sample)
• C’Est Moi [from Camelot] (sample)
• What Kind of Fool Am I? (sample)
• Something’s Gotta Give (sample)
• Here’s That Rainy Day (sample)
• Make Someone Happy (sample)
• The Impossible Dream (sample)
• You’ve Got a Friend in Me [from Toy Story 2] (sample)