Johnny Hartman's next-to-last album (he made a record for Audiophile 12 days later) finds the 57-year-old singer still in prime form. His rich baritone voice is joined by a sextet also including
Frank Wess (on tenor and flute), trumpeter
Joe Wilder and pianist
Billy Taylor. The ballads range from slow to a brighter medium-tempo pace, and
Hartman (particularly on such tunes as "Easy Living," "Wave" and "I Could Write a Book") shows that he still had it this late in his career. Unfortunately, this Bee Hive album has yet to be reissued domestically on CD.