Mel Tormé (with Marty Paich): Lulu's Back in Town

I've never much cared for "back in town" songs. Whether it's Thin Lizzy's "The Boys Are Back in Town" or just Matt Dusk who has crossed over the city limits. Unless there's a court-issued restraining order, you should be able to come and go as you please. Lulu's returned (from painful confinement in an Alban Berg opera)? Wanna ask me if I care?

But Tormé and Paich take this shallow Tin Pan Alley gal and make her into a countess. The chart is smartly conceived, from the tuba pounding away on the back beats in the intro to the vocal and harmonic pyrotechnics in the coda (only the Velvet Fog could squeeze so many syllables out of the name "Lulu" -- turning it into a veritable Lulu-ululation). Along the way, we get a very accomplished vocal with all the characteristic Tormé virtues. Check the enunciation, check the intonation . . . heck, you can check the oil and the tire pressure, and you will find that everything is running on all cylinders. And don't miss Bud Shank's fine alto solo in a cool school vein. Vraiment, this was a 'Lulu' worth waiting for.