Royce Campbell was
Henry Mancini's guitarist for nearly 20 years, so he knows
Mancini's music quite well. On this tribute CD, he turns nine of the composer's themes into jazz, which is a bit of an accomplishment because
Mancini was a film rather than a jazz composer and only "Days of Wine and Roses" became a jam session standard. "Charade" and "Moon River" are given light Latin rhythms, "Dreameville" and "Letter to Henry" (the latter an original ballad by
Campbell) are taken unaccompanied by the guitarist and even "The Pink Panther Theme" comes off well.
Campbell's style at times recalls
Wes Montgomery with touches of
George Benson while the rhythm section (which includes pianist
Bruce Barth, bassist
Bill Moring and drummer
Terry Clarke) is fine in support. This is a melodic and tasteful affair that the composer would have enjoyed.