Just One Of Those Things

by William Ruhlmann Just One of Those Things is a theme album comparable to one of Frank Sinatra's up-tempo swing albums of the same period (Come Fly With Me, etc.), and employs the same arranger/conductor, Billy May. Nat King Cole is a bit less effective than Sinatra at up-tempo material; he tends to undersing these sprightly standards, and May saves his dramatic horn charts and percussion shots for moments when Cole is away from the microphone. Even so, by the fifth track, "These Foolish Things Remind Me of You," May has retreated to ballad time, and though his embellishments threaten to break out behind the singer, Cole gives an assured, unhurried performance. And that's the point: that Cole has tamed the rambunctious May does not mean he doesn't give wonderful interpretations to some wonderful songs: "Don't Get Around Much Anymore," "Just One of Those Things," "The Song Is Ended (But the Melody Lingers On)." And the light-handed swing supports those efforts well.