First up is "Baby Elephant Walk", which has great fuzz guitar
from Vincent Bell and an astonishingly deep and relaxed groove from
drummer Osie Johnson. Gary Burton is on vibes and you'll find Roland
Kirk and Phil Woods on reeds.
It's the same personnel for "Charade", for which Jones
decided on an uptempo and jittery jazz beat for the melody
to float unhurriedly above, only for the band to explode
into a brassy swing sound for the chorus. Vincent Bell
is a very interestingly watery sound for his guitar here.
Sounds like maybe Roland Kirk is soloing at the end.
"Dreamsville" is a different ensemble. Kirk is still here
but not Woods. Margaret Ross is on harp and Mundell Lowe
on guitar, with Johnson still on drums and Burton still on vibes.
There are lots of other musicians, but these are the names
that jump out of me. Oh, and Clark Terry on trumpet.
Milt Hinton plays bass on most of this record.
(People more knowledgable than I am about jazz will undoubtedly
be excited about some of the other players.)
Anyway, "Dreamsville", is a classic late night slow smoker
of an intimate song and it sounds absolutely amazing every time
I hear it. Jones doesn't go too far from the original,
presumably because why would you want to?
So far, so familiar. But then there's a tune called "Bird Brain"
from a movie called Soldier in the Rain, which is new
to me. (And I thought I knew my Mancini!)
There are three different ensembles on this record and
with "Bird Brain" we come to the third: Toots Thielemans
on guitar, harmonica and whistle, Gary Burton on vibes, Osie
Johnson still on drums, no Kirk but Woods is back on reeds
and this time joined by Zoot Sims. (Again, among others.)
"Bird Brain" is a cheerful number in waltz time,
sprightly and effervescent. The chorus digs in a bit
for a slightly darker and heavier sound but the overall
feeling is still very light. Nice alto sax solo as
well as some other interesting sounds and choices, such
as whistling, humming, electric piano, etc.
"Days of Wine and Roses" isn't just a Mancini tune,
or even just an Academy Award-winning Mancini tune,
it's also become a jazz standard.
Instead of tackling it as a ballad, Jones gives it
a mid-tempo swing feel, actually making this sweet but
melancholy song sound breezy and energetic. There's
a great sax solo that I would bet is Roland Kirk again.
The other candidates are Stanley Webb and Jerome Richardson,
but I don't know who they are.
Side A ends with one of my favorites, the theme from Mr. Lucky.
Almost everybody else uses this as a chance to exploit the
sonorities of the Hammond organ or similar instrument
but Quincy Jones is keeping it buoyant again, with a deft
rhythmic feel and letting wind instruments do all the talking.
Bobby Scott is playing the piano but other than that it's
up to the reeds and flutes and such.
How to start the B side? The theme from The Pink Panther
seems to be somewhat popular! Quincy Jones gives it a cool
arco bass intro from the double double-bass team of
Milt Hinton and Major Holley. It starts very restrained
and then lets it all go into a profoundly satisfying
swing with fantastic saxophone playing.
I've always had a soft spot for "(I Love You) And
Don't You Forget It" and it's done with a lot of energy
here by the same grouping as "Dreamsville" and "Days of Wine
and Roses". The arrangement doesn't stray too far from
Mancini's original but Jones has had some fun with
interesting intervals and harmonies for the horns,
creating some subtly dissonant expressions that work
on you almost subliminally. And I assume that the overblown
flute playing is from the master Roland Kirk.
After this we're back to Soldier in the Rain and
its main title theme. This is a quiet and compelling tune,
somber and lovely, with a lot of the impact coming from
Thielemans's harmonica and whistling. I have to try to find this soundtrack
or watch the movie to hear what else Mancini did for it.
The next tune is from Peter Gunn though the record.
doesn't mention it. "Odd Ball" is a great jazz number with
great playing from the guitar and reeds/flute as well
as yet another brilliant Osie Johnson groove.
"Moon River" had to be on this record, of course, and here it comes.
Quincy Jones opens it with a blast, pre-empting any notions
of a sappy love song that you might have had. He keeps it
as a nimble jazz waltz with constantly percolating energy
and veritable barrages from the horns as well as wailing solos,
adding what sounds like marimba to the group.
After all that, where else is there to go? Well, lots of places,
actually, but if there's only one more piece of music on here
it has to be the theme from Peter Gunn.
Again there's some kind of marimba-like percussion here
and Vincent Bell's guitar adds nicely to the famous bass line.
The saxophone players can really sink their teeth into this one
and they do. At the end you'll hear one of Roland Kirk's
familiar noise blower things, kind of like a whistle siren kazoo.
If you've heard it, you know what I mean.
I love this record! While the front cover and spine say
Quincy Jones Explores the Music of Henry Mancini,
the back cover is just as right to offer Quincy
Digests and Interprets the Wonderful Sounds That Are
Henry Mancini.