JAZZY REVIEWS: Henry Mancini - Uniquely Mancini

 As most of you know, I’ve had a passion for the music of the great Stan Kenton since I was in my early teens. A few years later I discovered Henry Mancini and I have been collecting Mancini recordings since that day. It takes a lot for me to even make this statement, but over the years I have come to know Mancini’s arrangements and recordings as Stan Kenton with a coat of wax applied. By that I mean, take everything that is good about the Kenton band and polish it up and you have Mancini’s music.

This album, recorded in Hollywood in 1962 and released in early 1963 is, by far, one of my most played. The band, the arrangements and the selection of tunes is spot-on. It’s so good that, in fact, during my many years on radio I used his recording of “Cheers” as my morning sign on. The band is like a who’s who of the very best West coast jazz musicians including the Candoli brothers, the Nash brothers, double bass drummer Jack Sperling and my friend, the one and only tenor genius Plas Johnson (who played that sensuous tenor sax on The Pink Panther). On this recording, Hank (as his friends know him) added a chorus of French horns, something Kenton did on a few LPs as well. It is rare to have an entire album delight me, but this one does it! The tunes range from swinging standards to quiet Mancini originals, all played with that aforementioned polish. Take the old Buddy Morrow swinger Night Train for example, a song I never really cared for as Morrow’s recording was brash and rough around the edges. Mancini gives me a new appreciation of the actual melody here using 4 bass flutes. Then there is Dukes Place, formally known as C-Jam Blues until Ella Fitzgerald put lyrics to it as a tribute to the late great Duke Ellington. My 2 favorite tracks are Bonzai Pipeline, which Mancini penned after hearing his son Chris speak of the awesome surfing in Hawaii. And secondly, the Hot Canary with its swinging piccolo lead is simply genius! The album closes appropriately with a syrupy mellow rendition of the Glenn Miller theme Moonlight Serenade. It never sounded better!

My recording is on the German Teldec (Telefunken/Decca) vinyl and that may be part of the reason it impresses me so much, the fidelity and pressing are first class! But I can say this with full confidence. If you like big band jazz, add some Mancini to your collection. You will NOT be disappointed!

Performance 9/10- Near perfect with a host of West coast talent. Basically, Henry raided the literal candy shoppe and selected all the best musicians.

Selections 10/10- A full album of delightful standards and originals masterfully blended to make the listener just wondering what comes next.

Recording 10/10- As with ALL of Mancini’s RCA records, the engineering is perfect. The blend of brass, reeds and rhythm is in harmonious balance and even with difficult instruments like marimba and piccolos, the sound is first rate!