Bobby Troup most famous song may be “Route 66″ but the singing pianist penned a number of great tunes (including standards such as “Daddy” and “The Meaning of the Blues”) and was a fine performer himself. Troup loved the sound of Nat Cole’s 1940s jazz trio and he continued to draw inspiration from it but on these transcriptions from the early 1960s he opens up his sound with a jazz organ or various horn soloists. Guests include such top drawer West Coast jazzmen as Jack Sheldon, Herb Ellis and Jimmy Rowles and all are given chances to shine even if this is really Troup’s show. Always a sly performer, Troup often brought as much to standards as he did to his own material. So his sensitive readings of “For Once in My Life” and “Watch What Happens” are as strong as his witty strolls through such Troup originals as “Girl Talk” and “Lemon Twist”. While not a jazz visionary, Bobby Troup was a great songwriter and a wonderful performer — even as modern singers such as Diana Krall and Shirley Horn introduce his music to a new generation the man’s own recordings deserve to be distributed more widely. Since so many of his original recordings are out of print it’s good to have these sides on compact disc. – Nick Dedina