This CD reissues one of the stranger jazz recordings. Pianist
Dick Hyman wrote the music for a dozen sonnets by William Shakespeare, songs that had appeared in some of Shakespeare's comedies. Classical baritonist
Earl Wrightson originally recorded the pieces, and a few years later,
Maxine Sullivan made this jazz version for Monmouth-Evergreen. Her performances (with
Hyman, trumpeter
Rusty Dedrick, guitarist
Bucky Pizzarelli, bassist
Milt Hinton and drummer
Don Lamond) were rather brief, so for the Audiophile reissue,
Hyman recorded additional solo renditions of most of the selections. Overall,
Sullivan's vocals get a bit hard to take, due to the antiquated lyrics (although her voice sounds fine), and none of
Hyman's melodies are all that memorable, even though a couple of his later solos display some heat. A historical curiosity, but little more.