In an autobiography filled with astonishing stories, the one coming to mind first is how Mel Tormé dated Ava Gardner while still living with his parents. On their first date she drove him from Los Angeles to Santa Barbara and back for dinner at speeds exceeding the tempos included in some of the music here, over 90 miles an hour.

Mel's account of his first dinner with Mr. and Mrs. Tommy Dorsey is pretty unforgettable, too.

A friend who used to sell my more meditative CDs, and exotic soaps and candles she made, was his caretaker, accompanying Mel to homes of Hollywood elites from his generation. She was devastated when he left us.

These are several favorite Tormé performances I've come across to date, including some joined by Buddy Rich and George Shearing.

Love For Sale is followed by Green Dolphin Street, the lyrics of which include "nights beyond forgetting."

Nights beyond forgetting are among the puissant inspirations of jazz and most other forms of music.

- Michael Robinson, September 2020, Los Angeles

© 2020 Michael Robinson All rights reserved

Michael Robinson is a Los Angeles-based composer, programmer, pianist and musicologist. His 199 albums include 152 albums for meruvina and 47 albums of piano improvisations. Robinson has been a lecturer at UCLA, Bard College and California State University Long Beach and Dominguez Hills.