(1924-94)
Henry Mancini: Charade – main title
Peter Gunn – Theme
Baby Elephant Walk
Days of Wine and Roses
Moon River
The Pink Panther – Theme
Harold Arlen: Blues in the Night
Henry Mancini: Rain Drops in Rio
Lujon
Quincy Jones: Soul Bossa Nova
Juan García Esquivel: Mucha Muchacha
Les Baxter: Quiet Village
Burt Bacharach: Alfie
Nicholas Roubanis: Misirlou
Laurie Johnson: The Shake
Morton Stevens: Hawaii Five-O
Burt Bacharach: The Look of Love
Casino Royale
Julius Wechter: Spanish Flea
Bobby Scott/Ric Marlow: A Taste of Honey
Michel Legrand: The Windmills of Your Mind
Henry Mancini: Party Poop
Hong Kong Fireworks
Les Baxter: Shooting Star
Burt Bacharach: This Guy’s in Love With You
Les Baxter: Saturday Night on Saturn
Juan García Esquivel: Whatchamacallit
Burt Bacharach: What’s New Pussycat?
Sid Ramin: Music to Watch Girls By
Les Reed/Gordon Mills: It’s Not Unusual
Monica Mancini – guest vocalist
Rachel John – vocalist
Oliver Tompsett – vocalist
Freddie Benedict, Kevin Fox, Johanna Marshall, Liz Swain – backing vocals
“Henry Mancini was more than one of the greatest composers in the history of film music. He was also one of the most versatile musicians of his or any time. Marking a century since the flautist, composer and conductor’s birth in Ohio, Edwin Outwater and the BBC Concert Orchestra celebrate the man and his music in styles ranging from jazz to light classical and film music. Among the classics are the slinky ‘Lujon’ and themes from The Pink Panther and Peter Gunn, joined by gems from the lounge music and space-age pop genres Mancini helped inspire, including easy-going tracks by Burt Bacharach, Les Baxter and Juan García Esquivel.”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0022c5m
This concert did not do justice to Henry Mancini, omitting several of his greatest melodies such as Two For The Road (1967)…. in fact the second half almost became a Bacharach & David tribute, with several other composers thrown in for luck. The backing group was OK but poorly balanced. Rachel John, whom I had not previously heard of, was outstanding . The Concert Orchestra’s playing was first class. Don’t even mention the presenter, so full of herself and too often departing from Matthew Sweet’s script. I can’t stand anyone who shouts at the audience “Are you having a good time?”