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Mel Tormé: Mountain Greenery - A Centenary Tribute, His 51 Finest 1944-1962
£10.99
In stock
Catalogue Number
RTS4427
This great double CD centenary tribute celebrates jazz singer, songwriter, pianist, drummer, actor, arranger, author and producer Mel Tormé (1925-1999). Among the most popular and influential jazz singers of the postwar era, he was simply one of the best popular vocalists of all time. Known as “The Velvet Fog”, he had a smooth, mellow voice, husky yet gentle, over which he always exercised consummate control. His choice of repertoire was an object lesson in musical quality.
“Mountain Greenery” is Retrospective’s tribute, 51 tracks that sum up the impact Mel Tormé had on the music scene. It includes his greatest commercial successes Careless Hands (a No.1 hit), Again, The Four Winds And The Seven Seas, and the duet with Peggy Lee, The Old Master Painter. The earliest track is his own teenage composition A Stranger In Town from 1944 which, like several other early hits, also featured his Mel-Tones (including the memorable What Is This Thing Called Love? with Artie Shaw).
Tormé was at the peak of his vocal powers during the mid-50s to early-60s with a string of superlative albums, the cream of which can be savoured in 30 magnificent tracks. Mel is at his most velvety in such standards as Polka Dots And Moonbeams, A Foggy Day or Moonlight In Vermont, but there are also many fine up-tempo numbers (especially those 18 conducted by Marty Paich) with top jazz soloists. The survey is rounded off by Mel’s surprise rhythm & blues Top 20 hit Comin’ Home, Baby and one of the favourites of all Christmas songs, his own immortal composition, The Christmas Song.
Manufacturer: Wyastone Estate Limited, Wyastone Leys, Monmouth, NP25 3SR
Email: sales@wyastone.co.uk
Reviews:
"I find it inconceivable that Mel's work would not be familiar to most readers of Just Jazz: whilst it is certainly true that he never had the following enjoyed by Sinatra, Nat Cole, Ella or Tony Bennett, he had a couple of top ten hits in the UK and several more in the States. I was surprised to see that his most popular release over here was Mountain Greenery, it was never as popular in the US. His considerable talent is there in much of his varied work. This collection covers all of his most successful recordings, though he continued recording up until the late 90s, when a stroke ended his recording career" Barry Clare, Just Jazz
"To cut to the chase, this is such a wide-ranging compilation that most people will find something to love, something to play in the background and something to hate. Tormé himself branded Coming Home Baby, with Claus Ogerman, as ‘junk’. But he almost saves it. And it became a hit.The ever-lasting glory of CDs is that they make track-skipping a doddle... As with other releases in the excellent Nimbus Retrospective series, this compilation was by Ray Crick, with audio restoration and remastering by Martin Haskell. Digby Fairweather has again contributed informative, frank and very readable booklet sleeve notes." Barry Fox, Jazz Views
"So my pick of the year has to be the Nimbus Retrospective label as a whole, with special reference to the handful of albums I picked and reviewed here.
All you want to know and more about what’s available can be found on the Nimbus website at https://www.wyastone.co.uk/all-labels/retrospective.html
Browse online, choose, buy and enjoy. It’s not as much fun as spending time in Tower, but it’s a good second best. And of course if you are lucky enough to still have a real record shop within easy reach, you should find Retrospectives there to seduce you. If not tell the owner to check out Nimbus Wyastone Retrospective." Barry Fox, Jazz Views