Delicado

ASV/Living Era's Delicado collects two discs' worth of Percy Faith's sweeping orchestral pop from 1944 to 1953, including his first commercial recordings, "Amor" and "Spring Will Be a Little Late This Year." Disc one follows Faith's career at his first label, Decca, and his subsequent stints at Majestic and Royale; tracks such as the aforementioned "Amor" and "Negra Consentida" trace the beginning of Faith's Latin-influenced productions, while "I Love You" and "Long Ago and Far Away" find him applying his lush but mellow approach to Cole Porter and Jerome Kern. Disc two enters Faith's '50s salad days at Columbia, and features his first big hit and the collection's namesake, "Delicado," as well as "The Song from Moulin Rouge (Where Is Your Heart?)." More of Faith's own compositions are also here, including "Da Du," "Fiddle Derby," "Flight 33 1/3," "Nervous Gavotte," and "Perpetual Notion," all of which reflect the more playful direction of his work and of instrumental pop at the time. Nevertheless, his thoughtful productions of "Solitude" and "Soft Lights and Sweet Music" show that Faith still had a way with luxurious yet appealing-sounding arrangements. Although this collection doesn't quite function as a greatest-hits compilation (16 Most Requested Songs still makes a good introduction), Delicado is nevertheless a thorough and entertaining look at Faith's early career.