The liner notes speak of
Nelson Riddle's "restful yet zestful style" as an arranger-conductor, which is perhaps a way of saying that the material here is mid-tempo, with the frequently familiar tunes ("Makin' Whoopee!," "June in January") dressed up in attractive charts that never get too lively or somber. Perhaps
Riddle, who was being used less often by
Frank Sinatra as the singer turned to
Billy May for his swing albums and
Gordon Jenkins for his ballad albums, was asserting the importance of a middle ground. If so, he got his point across, returning to work with
Sinatra the following year on the appropriately named Nice 'n' Easy. In a sense, this album is the precursor to that one, an easygoing collection of small tonal joys. ~ William Ruhlmann