Mel Tormé had spent the first decade of his solo career being treated by record companies as a pop singer when Bethlehem offered to treat him as a jazz artist in 1955.
The label requested that his first album “It’s a Blue World” be a collection of ballads, probably noting the recent success of Frank Sinatra's In the Wee Small Hours. But Tormé picked the songs, ranging from Jerome Kern and P.G. Wodehouse's "Till the Clouds Roll By" from 1917 to Duke Ellington and Paul Webster's "I've Got It Bad and That Ain't Good" from 1941.
The 15-piece orchestra assembled by his accompanist Al Pellegrini backed the singer, and Pellegrini, Sandy Courage, André Previn, Marty Paich, and Russ Garcia wrote the arrangements. Tormé sang with delicate precision, caressing the lyrics.
Despite the album title, his interpretations had none of the darkness of Sinatra. Rather, Tormé invested the songs with warmth and confidence. Recorded and released around the time he turned 30, “It's a Blue World” marked a turning point in Mel Tormé's recording career.
One of the finest vocal jazz albums.


Mel Tormé

It’s a Blue World

1955




CD / 1995 / 320Kbps


Tracklist:

1. I've Got It Bad, And That Ain't Good

2. Till The Clouds Roll By

3. Isn't It Romantic

4. I Know Why

5. All This And Heaven

6. How Long Has This Been Going On

7. Polkla Dots And Moonbeams

8. You Leave Me Breathless

9. Million Dollar Baby

10. Wonderful One

11. It's A Blue World

12. Stay As Sweet As You Are


Recorded in NYC, August 28-30, 1955


Mel Tormé / It’s a Blue World / 1955