Ultimate Mancini

Henry Mancini, Ultimate Mancini Orchestra | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 23, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Concord Records
• ASIN: B0001HAIFO
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #141,342 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars GREAT recording, March 29, 2004

By 

C. Pencil - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ultimate Mancini (Audio CD)

This new 2004 album is amazing. These brand new recordings are first rate. "Pink Panther" has rarely sounded better, and "Moon River" is given an absolutely beautiful treatment by Take 6 and Stevie Wonder on Harmonica.

Monica Mancini performs on some of the tracks and her vocals are excellent. This is a vast improvement over her first album. Her duet with Kenny Rankin on "Dreamsville" is especially wonderful.

Included is a beautiful instrumental of "Life in a Looking Glass" from the motion picture "That's Life". It then goes into a nice vocal of "Crazy World" from Victor/Victoria and then "It's Easy to Say" from "10".

The cover picture features the new April 2004 Henry Mancini tribute postage stamp. You will not be sorry if you purchase this CD. It's a winner.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars *WOW* The Ultimate Tribute..., July 3, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Ultimate Mancini (Audio CD)

I happen to see Monica Mancini on Regis and Kelly and immediately purchased Ultimate Mancini. What a beautifully realised recording.

Henry Mancini brought us such amazing music and though it can't all be on one CD, the song choices and balance between vocals and instrumentals I found to be perfect. And speaking of vocals, with this recording Ms. Mancini establishes herself as the preeminent interpreter of her father's music as well as one of the best vocalists in this genre. Days of Wine and Roses and Dear Heart are in my opinion the definitive versions of these songs. In fact a number of theses performances are becoming my favorite.
The CD begins with the Pink Panther and features the original sax player from the first recording adding organist Joey DeFrancesco and vibraphonist Gary Burton.
There are also a number of suprises not the least of which is Stevie Wonder's soulful Harmonica on Moon River. How interesting it is to hear he and Take 6's contemporary treatment blend perfectly with Mancini's arrangement. I also loved saxophonist Tom Scott's funky Peter Gunn and Kenny Rankin's duet on Dreamsville.

I must also mention the actual recording quality. This CD SOUNDS great! The CD booklet mentions a future SACD release and it's enough to get me to purchase a player.

If the people who give out Grammys know what they are doing, Ultimate Mancini should be in the running for Album of the Year...

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Incredible big band recording!, October 24, 2005

By 

E. D. Loesch "It's still 1972" (Pacific Northwest) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Ultimate Mancini (Audio CD)

The songs of Hanry Mancini are indelibly etched in our minds- there isn't a lot to say about the tunes themselves. As you listen to 'Moon River' for the umpteen-thoudsandth time you must ask "Can his reording bring me any new perspective on the music?" The Ultimate Mancini answers with a resounding "Yes!"

The way the musicians have interpreted the songs may be charcterized as an all-out frontal attack. They give it all they've got, obviously they were turned-on and loving the experience. The sound is crisp and beautiful, the recording state-of-the-art, and the production flawless. The sound has the kind of bite you get actually sitting in a big band; it makes the decades-old soundtracks or other recordings of Mancini's stuff sound muffled and weak by comparison. You won't be disapointed with this disc.