Cat No FSRCD429

The Johnny Mathis known internationally to generations of music lovers is stylish, soft-voiced and has occasional bits of what approximates to jazz singing, yet as this album of his debut & early recordings demonstrates, there was a time when Johnny’s singing was thoroughly jazz-oriented, and arrangers were chosen who had a thorough command of the jazz idiom - including here : Gil Evans, John Lewis, Manny Albam, Teo Macero, Bob Prince, Percy Faith & Ray Conniff. The outstanding musicians backing Mathis include : Art Farmer, Buck Clayton, J.J.Johnson, Eddie Bert, Phil Woods, Hank Jones, Ray Brown, Tony Scott, Herb Ellis, Eddie Costa, Hal McKusick, John Lewis, Milt Hinton, Nick Travis and many more.

“Jazz is not profitable,” Mathis said. “I made a jazz album first, then decided to make a pop single. I decided to go with the one that clicked. The pop side clicked and I went that way.” This album contains the first recordings of a 19-year-old San Francisco-born singer who, soon after his professional debut in 1955, became unanimously considered the most outstanding new singing star of his generation.