Joe Williams laid down the definitive template for the male jazz singer when he rose to prominence in the ‘50s. Whether he was belting out sultry tunes like "Every Day I Have the Blues" amid the big, brassy arrangements of the Count Basie Orchestra, or crooning broken-hearted ballads like "A Man Ain't Supposed to Cry" alongside the elegant orchestrations of Jimmy Mundy, Williams' baritone was both laden with gravitas and surprisingly supple, achieving an unprecedented balance of masculinity and vulnerability.