Lulu's Back in Town

Mel Torme | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 6, 1999)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Rhino / Wea
• ASIN: B00000IMSD
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #123,310 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

From Jazziz

When Mel Tormé was still in kneepants, he was already a star. Tormé was in show business by age four as a feature act with the Coon-Saunders Orchestra at the Black Hawk in Chicago. That was just the beginning of a singing career that has lasted from 1929 until his debilitating stroke in August of 1996. On June 6, 1999, Tormé died after being hospitalized for respiratory problems. After flirting with bobby-soxer idolatry early in his career, he teamed up with arranger Marty Paich to explore the full range of his artistic potential. Together they conceived the idea of a 10-piece instrumental backing ensemble they dubbed the "Dek-tette." On this reissue of 1956's Lulu's Back in Town (Bethlehem), Tormé is found singing with one of those Dek-tettes. Our featured track is the song that would become a Tormé trademark, "Lulu's Back in Town."

--- JAZZIZ Magazine Copyright © 2000, Milor Entertainment, Inc.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An outstanding Album from Mel's Middle period., August 28, 1999

By 

"jpcools" (Braintree, Essex United Kingdom) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lulu's Back in Town (Audio CD)

This is one of Mel's best examples of his Art with Superb Marty Paich arrangements. The personell are all top-notch West-Coast musicians of the period, and demonstrate their skills when handling the Charts or Solo's accordingly! The additional Bonus is the Newly discovered Stereo tapes to give these performances an added Dimension!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Addition to my earlier review., July 26, 2004

By 

J Cools (Spain) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lulu's Back in Town (Audio CD)

I previously mentioned the Discovery of Stereo Tapes. I was misinformed, and this release is in the Original Mono. Great sound and performances nevertheless. Apologies for unintentionally misleading anyone.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Textbook Session, October 21, 2003

By 

Samuel Chell (Kenosha,, WI United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Lulu's Back in Town (Audio CD)

This session deserves to be as popular as the Beach Boys. It represents the "cool" West Coast jazz sound at its creative best--complex yet light, tight, and perpetually fresh. Marty Paich's arrangements serve less as background accompaniment than as a luminous foil to the equally inventive elocutions of the singer. If there's a better solution to the challenge of balancing ensemble cohesiveness with individual expressiveness, I haven't heard it.

As for Mel, there's admittedly less "personality" than on his later sessions, but the gain is a concentrated focus on the song performances--twelve "art objects," each representing the very best that could be squeezed out of composer, arranger, instrumentalists, and vocalist at a given moment. Thinking of Rossetti's description of the sonnet as a "moment's monument," it may be no exaggeration to regard this recording as a monumental achievement. In any case, I'm tickled to have made its discovery, however late.