Harkit Records, which also brought out
Herschel Burke Gilbert's music to the mid-'60s TV series Burke's Law, has fared slightly less well with
Joseph Mullendore's music for Honey West. Not that it's bad:
Mullendore uses big-band jazz as a jumping-off point and does amazingly well -- working in the context of mid-'60s television (an era in which stereo playback wasn't even dreamt of) -- in utilizing the timbres of various instruments, but a little too much of what's here sounds like soundtrack music, albeit entertaining soundtrack music, as opposed to jazz, and there's only 28 minutes of music in total. One such piece, "Lots of Pluck," is especially witty, being made up of pizzicato strings, but other parts of the scoring, such as "The Ocelot," are less than memorable. The stereo separation here is especially satisfying, highly discreet and bringing out the different instrumental voices on the three jazziest pieces here, "Requiem for a Sideman," "Serape," and "Sweet Honey," the latter introducing an organ alongside its horns and reeds; and "Sam Goes (Honey) West" offers some pleasing sax and horn solos. "Silk and Honey" offers a pleasant contrast between the reeds, horns, and strings. The annotation, such as it is, focuses a little too much on the writer's sexual fixation on actress Anne Francis in the series' title role, and not enough on the music, but at least all of the players on the soundtrack are listed. ~ Bruce Eder