In A New Mood

Very nice clean vinyl with a smart flipback gloss cover.

Oscar Brown, Jr.'s third recording, which has not yet been reissued on CD, features the brilliant lyricist/singer performing a dozen standards. Surprisingly, his only writing contribution is the words to "Work Song," easily the most notable performance on this otherwise so-so date. Brown is backed by an unidentified orchestra (only trumpeter Joe Newman, who pops up briefly a few times, is distinctive) on tunes mostly arranged in somewhat anonymous fashion by Ralph Burns. Brown's voice is fine on such numbers as "Where or When," "Mood Indigo," "One for My Baby" and "Straighten Up and Fly Right," but he adds little fresh and new to the material. This is one of his lesser efforts.