Bronx-born crooner Jerry Vale began recording his softly soaring ballads in the early '50s, becoming a fixture of the easy-listening chart in the following decade. Though he sang mostly in English, Vale embraced his Italian heritage on gems like “Non Dimenticar” and "Arrivederci, Roma." Vocally, he would often invest in a booming emotional release before pulling back to the most tender of whispers. Coupled with dramatic strings, this gave songs like “Al Di La” and “Two Purple Shadows” a stirring sense of romance that's survived the intervening decades untarnished.