Imagine being so good so young that when a major band leader wanted to sign you because of a song you wrote that the band played, child labor laws stood in the way.
That is just some of the legacy of Mel Torme. His artistry started to blossom early and he was not just a singer. He was a multi-instrumentalist and master of multi-stuff too from author to actor and right back to singer, arranger and more. He was good at simply presenting his abilities and one of those very abilities, as an arranger of music early on, resulted in his turning a quartet singing group known as the Schoolkids into the Mel-Tones. He wasn’t afraid of a thing it seems and he could back his brazen bravado up too. The sound of his voice resulted in his being given the nickname The Velvet Fog. His sound so smooth and lush and his way with a lyric with a hint of wit and just this side of not taking it all too seriously. He was described as having encyclopedic knowledge of American music. He knew how to give it the due it so richly deserves too.
Beautiful and memorable, Torme sang it for you and made it so easy to listen to.