Herbie Mann - Plays the Roar of the Greasepaint... / Today! (1965-67)

Plays the Roar of the Greasepaint - The Smell of the Crowd:
Flutist Herbie Mann on this out-of-print LP performs 11 songs from a famous Leslie Bricusse-Anthony Newley musical. Joined by an orchestra arranged by Ray Ellis (and including either Chick Corea or Roger Kellaway on piano), Mann plays well enough. However, the only one of the 11 songs remembered today is "Who Can I Turn To," and the renditions of the material are so brief (only two songs are longer than three minutes) as to be unadventurous and rather superficial. One of Mann's less significant projects of the 1960s. - AMG

Tracks:
1. The Joker 2:37
2. Feeling Good 3:26
3. Where Would You Be Without Me? 2:20
4. It Isn't Enough 2:26
5. Look at that Face 2:25
6. This Dream 1:59
7. Who Can I Turn to 2:15
8. The Beautiful Land 2:10
9. My First Love Song 4:16
10. Sweet Beginning 2:00
11. A Wonderful Day Like Today 2:29

Today!
Flutist Herbie Mann has always had wide interests in music. For this hard-to-find LP he is joined by three brass, vibraphonist Dave Pike, bassist Earl May, drummer Bruno Carr and percussionist Patato Valdes (with arrangements by Oliver Nelson) for a wide-ranging program that includes two Beatles songs, a selection from Burt Bacharach and two ancient pieces by Duke Ellington ("Creole Love Call" and "The Mooche"). In general Mann plays quite well but there is little memorable about this generally commercial effort. - AMG

Tracks:
1. Today (Herbie Mann/Oliver Nelson) 3:46
2. The Creole Love Call (Duke Ellington) 4:58
3. Don't Say I Didn't Tell You So (Burt Bacharach/Hal David) 3:48
4. Arrastao (Edu Lobo/Norman Gimbel) 4:13
5. The Mooche (Duke Ellington/Irving Mills) 4:16
6. If You Gotta Make a Fool of Somebody (Rudy Clark) 3:50
7. Yesterday (John Lennon/Paul McCartney) 3:38
8. The Night Before (John Lennon/Paul McCartney) 4:58



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