Henry Mancini Pink Panther

This wide-ranging project features new versions of many of Henry Mancini's best-known soundtrack compositions in celebration of what would have been his 100th birthday. Mancini was nothing if not supremely adaptable in his music and television score work. He composed slinky, seductive private eye music like his footfall theme to the television series Peter Gunn, which is here given a jazzy, funky treatment courtesy of Quincy Jones, John Williams, Herbie Hancock and Arturo Sandoval. His supremely cool-tempoed title theme for Blake Edwards' 1963 comedy The Pink Panther is perhaps the most famous example of Mancini's pioneering incorporation of jazz into film music. The imaginative combo of Lizzo and Sir James Galway, both playing flute, team with a brassy studio band for a version that adheres to the contours of the original. Snarky Puppy take the most stylistic liberties, turning "Baby Elephant Walk," composed for 1962's Hatari, into a jazz funk explosion.

This wide-ranging project features new versions of many of Henry Mancini's best-known soundtrack compositions in celebration of what would have been his 100th birthday. Mancini was nothing if not supremely adaptable in his music and television score work. He composed slinky, seductive private eye music like his footfall theme to the television series Peter Gunn, which is here given a jazzy, funky treatment courtesy of Quincy Jones, John Williams, Herbie Hancock and Arturo Sandoval. His supremely cool-tempoed title theme for Blake Edwards' 1963 comedy The Pink Panther is perhaps the most famous example of Mancini's pioneering incorporation of jazz into film music. The imaginative combo of Lizzo and Sir James Galway, both playing flute, team with a brassy studio band for a version that adheres to the contours of the original. Snarky Puppy take the most stylistic liberties, turning "Baby Elephant Walk," composed for 1962's Hatari, into a jazz funk explosion.

This wide-ranging project features new versions of many of Henry Mancini's best-known soundtrack compositions in celebration of what would have been his 100th birthday. Mancini was nothing if not supremely adaptable in his music and television score work. He composed slinky, seductive private eye music like his footfall theme to the television series Peter Gunn, which is here given a jazzy, funky treatment courtesy of Quincy Jones, John Williams, Herbie Hancock and Arturo Sandoval. His supremely cool-tempoed title theme for Blake Edwards' 1963 comedy The Pink Panther is perhaps the most famous example of Mancini's pioneering incorporation of jazz into film music. The imaginative combo of Lizzo and Sir James Galway, both playing flute, team with a brassy studio band for a version that adheres to the contours of the original. Snarky Puppy take the most stylistic liberties, turning "Baby Elephant Walk," composed for 1962's Hatari, into a jazz funk explosion.

In a career that stretched nearly half a century, Henry Mancini became synonymous with catchy, jazzy, romantic music for film and television soundtracks. This 2014 Classic Soundtrack Collection features 18 original Mancini soundtrack albums for the RCA, Epic and Columbia labels on nine discs plus rare bonus tracks, including a never-before-heard version of "Nothing to Lose" from Blake Edwards' 1968 comedy the Party performed by Julie Andrews. Taken together, the albums in this collection underline the enduring popularity of Henry Mancini and his unique ability to create movie music that pop audiences could also embrace. Albums Included are: The Pink Panther, the Return of the Pink Panther, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Charade, Hatari!, Oklahoma Crude, What Did You Do in the War, Daddy? High Time, Experiment in Terror, Darling Lili, Gunn, Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe?, Two for the Road, Arabesque, the Great Race, Me, Natalie, the Party &, Visions of Eight.

Two cool Henry Mancini album – one soundtrack, and one sweet set of instrumentals! Return Of The Pink Panther is a surprisingly groovy record – and one that's very different from the original Pink Panther soundtrack. Symphonic Soul is one of Henry Mancini's grooviest LPs from the 70s – a mixture of tight large arrangements with a smooth funky edge, similar to some of his best soundtrack work at the time. The rhythm section is great – with Harvey Mason on drums and Joe Sample on keyboards, and guitar by David T Walker and Dennis Budimir – and the album also features some cool solos on instruments like African finger piano and piccolo trumpet.

Henry Mancini was an American composer, conductor and arranger, who is best remembered for his film and television scores. Often cited as one of the greatest composers in the history of film, he won four Academy Awards, a Golden Globe, and twenty Grammy Awards, plus a posthumous Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1995. His best known works include the theme to The Pink Panther film series ("The Pink Panther Theme"), "Moon River" to Breakfast at Tiffany's, and the theme to the Peter Gunn television series. The Peter Gunn theme won the first Grammy Award for Album of the Year. Mancini also had a long collaboration on film scores with the film director Blake Edwards. 2014 three CD box set containing 60 of the composer/arranger's finest recordings. Features 'Moon River', 'Baby Elephant Walk', 'Peter Gunne' and many others.

If the recognition of one's peers is the true measure of success, then few men are as successful as composer, arranger, and conductor Henry Mancini. In a career that spanned 40 years, writing for film and television, Mancini won four Oscars and twenty Grammys, the all-time record for a pop artist. For 1961's Breakfast at Tiffany's alone, Mancini won five Grammys and two Oscars. Breakfast at Tiffany's includes the classic "Moon River" (lyrics by Johnny Mercer), arguably one of the finest pop songs of the last 50 years.