There might not be an adjective of praise in existence that is sufficient to describe what
Danny Kaye could do. It seems easier to speculate about the possible meaning of three sets of double letters in his name, rearrangeable as "nay, nay" among other things, or to emphasize that a superb full orchestral accompaniment should share equal credit for hitting the versatility ball out of the park. Who those people were, particularly those who waved the baton and provided musical arrangements, is not information that is readily available from the album cover. There is only
Kaye's name, and the album title,
Pure Delight, an expression extracted from one of the featured song titles, but as appropriate a description of this performer as is possible with just two words. Other than a nice color photograph, the rest of the cover consists entirely of a list of other releases from the Harmony line, an ongoing effort by Columbia records to repackage catalog material and make it available on a discount basis. This list covers catalog items number 7006 through 7047. Actually one of the longest-running budget lines in recording industry history, Harmony began back in the '20s with historic material originally cut for early labels such as Okeh. In the '80s, Harmony was still going strong as an outlet for releasing material such as
Bob Dylan albums in Latin America. The
Kaye effort dates from sometime in the '50s. Four out of five songs on the second side originate with the 1941 Broadway show
Lady in the Dark, written by
Kurt Weill and
Ira Gershwin, and the musical vehicle with which
Kaye originally rode into stardom. These tracks -- "Jenny," "Tchaikovsky and Other Russians," "It's Never too Late to Mendelssohn" and "The Princess of Pure Delight" -- also show up regularly on
Kaye's greatest-hits collections. This is fantastic material; there is probably much less interest in
Kaye's interpretation of "Molly Malone," but it is there to close out the album and, in a sense, provide a breather from the brilliance that has passed before. Despite the relatively darker shade of
Weill's irony, the
Lady in the Dark material provides an ambience similar to
Spike Jones, which in turn represents a transition from the varied material on the first side. "The Babbitt and the Bromide" is an obvious highlight from that portion of the album, a hilarious concoction of the
Ira and
George Gershwin which would be easier to sing as a duo.
Kaye takes on both parts, one a high squeak of a voice, presenting a kind of rapid-fire patter that never falters in either timing or melodic lilt. Following this, the orchestra expertly transforms itself into a swing band and
Kaye performs "Minnie the Moocher," every bit as outrageous and energetic as
Cab Calloway. The flow of material amounts simply to a masterful presentation by a great performer,
Kaye and accompaniment deserving 100 percent of the credit, since obviously no care at all went into any aspect of production or presentation in order to sell this on the Harmony line.