Mel Torme
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 be a collection of ballads, probably noting the recent success of
Frank Sinatra
's
In the Wee Small Hours
. But
Torme
picked the songs, ranging from
Jerome Kern
and
P.G. Wodehouse
"Till the Clouds Roll By"
from 1917 to
Duke Ellington
Paul Webster
"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
Andre Previn
Marty Paich
, and
Russ Garcia
wrote the arrangements
sang with delicate precision, caressing the lyrics. Despite the album title, his interpretations had none of the darkness of
Sinatra
. Rather,
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
's recording career. ~ William Ruhlmann