As popular and well-known as Henry Mancini was when he was alive, only after his death in 1994 have the substantial musical tributes been coming -- and the tunes included on this graceful disc were suggested by the composer himself.
Mancini was, of course, a product of the big band era -- and thus, steeped in jazz -- and his movie themes often make gratifying basic material for ballad improvisations.
With only Gil Goldstein's electronic keyboards (used sparingly and strictly in a jazz context), Todd Coolman's bass, and Terri Lyne Carrington's drums to back him up, Moody's tenor, alto and soprano solos are consistently warm, melodic, and easy to assimilate, with a few nudges outside the changes on "Charade." Appropriately he also chooses to use the flute on the sly, sauntering Pink Panther theme and "Soldier In the Rain." The sentimental "Moon River" was the only tune Mancini did not recommend, but it was from Moody's wife's favorite film, and it gives Moody a chance to exercise his deep, endearingly rusty bass voice.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Slow Hot WindNorman Gimbel, Henry Mancini | James Moody | Play | 05:44 | 13 MB | 29 MB |
| 2 | Moon RiverHenry Mancini, Johnny Mercer | James Moody | Play | 04:30 | 10 MB | 24 MB |
| 3 | Silver StreakHenry Mancini | James Moody | Play | 06:12 | 14 MB | 39 MB |
| 4 | Royal BlueHenry Mancini | James Moody | Play | 04:57 | 11 MB | 26 MB |
| 5 | Too Little TimeHenry Mancini, Don Raye | James Moody | Play | 04:05 | 9 MB | 15 MB |
| 6 | CharadeHenry Mancini, Johnny Mercer | James Moody | Play | 07:31 | 17 MB | 44 MB |
| 7 | Soldier in the RainHenry Mancini | James Moody | Play | 05:18 | 12 MB | 25 MB |
| 8 | (I Love You and) Don't You Forget ItHenry Mancini, Al Stillman | James Moody | Play | 04:44 | 10 MB | 26 MB |
| 9 | Two for the RoadHenry Mancini | James Moody | Play | 05:38 | 12 MB | 21 MB |
| 10 | The Pink Panther | James Moody | Play | 05:03 | 11 MB | 28 MB |
| 53 mins | 123 MB | |||||
| 53 mins | 283 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Greg Calbi | Mastering |
| 2 | Terri Lyne Carrington | Drums |
| 3 | Todd Coolman | Bass, Guest Artist |
| 4 | James Farber | Engineer |
| 5 | Norman Gimbel | Composer |
| 6 | Gil Goldstein | Arranger, Guest Artist, Keyboards, Producer |
| 7 | Mark Larson | Art Direction |
| 8 | Henry Mancini | Composer |
| 9 | Johnny Mercer | Composer |
| 10 | James Moody | Flute, Liner Notes, Primary Artist, Sax (Alto), Sax (Soprano), Sax (Tenor), Saxophone, Vocals |
| 11 | Andrew Page | Assistant Engineer |
| 12 | Matt Pierson | Producer |
| 13 | Don Raye | Composer |
| 14 | Jeffrey Scales | Photography |
| 15 | Al Stillman | Composer |
| 16 | Dana Watson | Project Coordinator |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |