Hal Mooney was one of the busiest and most in-demand arranger-composer-conductors on the 1940s, '50s and '60s American music scene, pumping out elegantly crafted scores for the likes of singers such as Dick Haymes, Helen Forrest, Kay Starr, Judy Garland and Dinah Washington. Several of Mooney's own compositions - the jumping instrumental, Swamp Fire, is typical - have become essential to the basic library of big band jazz. In 1959's An Affair to Remember he casts a glorious selection of evergreens in exquisitely crafted big band arrangements, which bring out all the beauty and splendour inherent in each melody. Any Time, from the same year, is one of those concept albums, which had become popular in the late 1950s. In this case Mooney takes as his inspiration the twelve astrological signs of the Zodiac, writing for each a melody summing up the characteristics associated with the respective sign. But regardless of the inspiration behind it, the music can be enjoyed on its own terms as superbly listenable and charming light orchestral music.

Contents:

An Affair to Remember (1959)
1. Oh What a Beautiful Mornin' (Rodgers; Hammerstein)
2. Hey There (Adler; Ross)
3. Anna (El Negro Zumbon) (Vatro; Giordano; Godfrey; Engvick)
4. I'll Be Seeing You (Fain; Kahal)
5. Ruby (Roemheld; Parish)
6. But Not for Me (G & I Gershwin)
7. An Affair to Remember (Our Love Affair) (Warren; Adamson; McCarey)
8. They Can't Take That Away From Me (G & I Gershwin)
9. I Could Write a Book (Rodgers; Hart)
10. Moonglow (Hudson; Mills; DeLange)
11. My Foolish Heart (Young; Washington)
12. High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me) (Tiomkin; Washington)

Any Time (1959)
13. Aries
14. Taurus
15. Gemini
16. Cancer
17. Leo
18. Virgo
19. Libra
20. Scorpio
21. Sagittarius
22. Capricorn
23. Aquarius
24. Pisces