Mel Tormé (USA, 1925 - 1999) is one of the most versatile jazz artists ever. He composed and arranged songs, he was a drummer as well as a movie and tv-show actor. Long ago he starred in sitcoms with Judy Garland and Lucille Ball, more recent in the popular series Night Court and Seinfeld. But he became really famous with his special voice. He was rewarded the nickname “Velvet Fog”, because of his high tenor and smooth style of singing. And singing that was what he did. 200 concerts a year was no problem for him. And he had his radio shows and his own tv-show in the '50’s.
In our archives, we found a performance of Mel in the famous Dutch programme Music All In, recorded 19-03-1976. Host Pim Jacobs accompanied him on piano at several songs, and the big orchestra was conducted by the great Rogier van Otterloo, known as composer from box office movie soundtracks like “Soldier of Orange”. It’s widely known that Tormé wasn’t a big fan of rock and roll music, which he once called “three tone manure”, but although he loved classic music, he also liked some pop songs. In this "tribute to Gene Krupa", we' see him givng a big drum solo, as a real tribute.
Such irony that this is being shared today, March 13th, 2025, on the 49th anniversary of the performance.
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