HI-FI Harp is better than several of
Maxwell's early MGM records, but it is still not quite up to the standards of his Mercury LP or his later work on MGM and Decca. There are several things to like about it, however.
Maxwell's humor is abundant here, from the whistles in "Hot Tamales" to the
Raymond Scott-sounding titles of two originals, "Injury Music for Football Games" (annoying) and "Accidental Slip on an Oriental Rug" (grand enough, but not the exotic masterpiece of which
Maxwell is capable). "I Got Rhythm" and "Cumana" receive somewhat inspired treatments.