Hoagy Carmichael
's last significant recording is a project whose format should have been repeated in later years. Sticking to vocals,
Carmichael
performs ten of his compositions including
"Georgia on My Mind,"
"New Orleans,"
"Skylark,"
"Baltimore Oriole,"
"Rockin' Chair,"
and
"Lazy River."
What is unusual is that he is accompanied by an 11-piece all-star jazz group and that his voice takes its turn with trumpeters
Harry "Sweets" Edison
Don Fagerquist
, altoist
Art Pepper
, and pianist
Jimmy Rowles
. The match up works quite well, for
Hoagy
's songs have long been viable devices for jazz improvising. [The CD reissue of this unique set adds a previously unreleased instrumental rendition of
"Georgia on My Mind"
to the already impressive program.] ~ Scott Yanow