Mel Tormé and
Margaret Whiting are backed by arranger
Russell Garcia's orchestra on this album dedicated to songs from Broadway musicals that were popular around the time of these 1960 sessions. While a few of the songs caught on for a time following the closing of the shows from which they came, only "Make Someone Happy" has had any staying power over the long run; unfortunately, this uninspired arrangement features
Whiting alone.
Tormé's jazz chops make him a far more interesting vocalist, as he improvises up a storm in his duet with
Whiting in the loping "Tall Hopes." Their chemistry is better in "All You Need Is a Quarter" and they have fun with the silly ditty "What's New at the Zoo?," which detours into a rock setting. Even
Tormé is handicapped with the plodding march tempo of the ballad "From a Prison Cell." Long out of print, this Verve LP seems unlikely to be reissued. ~ Ken Dryden