• An anthology which captures the essence of the career of one of the great arrangers in the annals of popular music.

During the big band era and the heyday of the classic crooners and divas in the post-war decades, the orchestral arrangers were among the most important elements of recordings and stage performances. Their vision of how a song could and should sound were at the core of some of the great recordings of the pop and easy listening genres.
Billy May was one of the paragons of this coterie of master craftsmen, with an illustrious career which saw him work swing era giants like Glenn Miller and Charlie Barnet, and later becoming an essential musical partner for some of the great vocalists of our time - Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee, Jo Stafford and countless others. And, of course, he composed hit material as a bandleader and recording artist in his own right.
This collection is an anthology which aims to capture the essence of his genius, and illustrate the contribution he made to so many memorable recordings.
Some tracks are new to CD, including two of Jo Stafford's final singles on Columbia, Billy May, Nelson Riddle and Stan Kenton's rare collaboration on 'Belly Up to The Bar Boys', plus some rare and long sought after titles by Nellie Lutcher, Mel Blanc, Jerry Lewis, Peggy Lee, Hoagy Carmichael, The Capitol Jazzmen, Gisele MacKenzie, Nat'King' Cole, Nancy Wilson, Bing, Louis and Ella.
Comprising 111 tracks on a 4-CD collection, this is not only a comprehensive and coherent overview of the career of a great arranger, but it is also a veritable feast of entertainment, comprising as it does recordings by a host of fine artists across the big band, jazz and easy listening genres.
We trust it is a fitting as well as hugely entertaining tribute.

Track Listing

• Cherokee
• Ida Sweet As Apple Cider
• Boulder Bluff
• Clambake In B Flat
• Captain Kidd
• Buzz Me
• The Coffee Song
• Bloop Bleep
• Memphis In June
• Put Yourself In My Place Baby
• Intro: Sparky's Magic Piano
• Blind Date
• Home Cookin'
• I Taut I Taw A Puddy Tat
• I'm A Little Busybody
• D'Ya Wanna- Go To Tia Juana
• So Far, So Good
• My Magic Heart
• Mean to Me
• Fat Man Boogie
• Lean Baby
• Walkin' My Baby Back Home
• What Does It Take
• Two Brothers
• La Ronde
• Please

• Mayhem
• Memphis In June
• You And The Night And The Music
• Bacchanalia
• South Of The Border
• This Must Be The Place
• The Honeymoon's Over
• River Of No Return
• Sh-Boom
• Open Up The Doghouse
• Long Long Ago
• The Dixieland Band
• Hello Out There, Hello
• Papa Loves Mambo
• Mad about the Boy
• Pick Yourself Up
• It's the Natural Thing To Do
• Oklahoma!
• Bo Mambo
• Carnivalito Boliviano
• Street Of Dreams
• I'll See You Again
• Softly As In A Morning Sunrise
• Main title theme from The Man With The Golden Arm
• Floater
• Christopher Columbus
• I Never Get Enough Of You
• Love Is A Great Big Nothin'
• The Banana Boat Song (Day-O)

• Aren't You Glad You're You
• Accentuate The Positive
• My Romance
• Younger Than Springtime
• Send For Me
• You Brought A New Kind Of Love To Me
• The Party's Over
• Brushed Off
• Let's Get Away From It All
• Moonlight In Vermont
• Come Fly With Me
• Pawn Ticket
• Brassmen's Holiday
• Lulu's Back In Town
• Mine
• Memories Of You
• Lullaby Of The Leaves
• On The Sunny Side Of The Street
• Sposin'
• Solving The Riddle
• Fancy Meeting You Here
• Isle Of Capri
• Something's Gotta Give
• Adios
• Frenesi
• Don't Look At Me That Way
• Which
• You're The Top

• You'd Be So Easy To Love
• South of The Border
• Perfidia
• Adios
• In The Mood Cha Cha
• Snowfall
• The More I See You
• People Will Say We're In Love
• Belly Up To The Bar Boys
• Pretty Eyes
• Because I Love Him So
• I Remember You
• Moments Like This
• Happy Is The Word (For Love)
• Candy
• What A Feeling
• Ten Cents A Dance
• Way Down Yonder In New Orleans
• Muskrat Ramble
• Little Ol' Tune
• Impossible
• September In The Rain
• Medley: Paddlin' Madeline Home, Row Row Row
• Lonesome Polecat
• Indiana (Back Home In)
• It's Only A Paper Moon
• The Man That Got away
• The Atchison Topeka And the Santa Fe

Additional Details

Label: Acrobat

Genre: Jazz

Run Time: 300 mins

Region: 0

Release Date: 09/11/12

UPC: 824046703622