Mel Tormé was good… damn good and he knew it… knew it to the point where, later in his career, he was prone to bludgeon listeners with his endless self-aggrandisement: often making Buddy Rich seem like a blushing violet! And it was this stance together with other conceits that could either win over audiences big time or prove irritating in his pursuit of (often soulless) near perfection. To these ears, Tormé wasn't so much a stylist but a vocal technician. That was until he linked up with Marty Paich to create one of the most rewarding partnerships in modern (vocal) jazz. While not nearly as celebrated as it should be, Paich alone humanised Tormé and it's to Paich's everlasting credit that not only was he able to work with the highly temperamental singer as long as he did, but produce such remarkable results. Such were Paich's colourful arrangements for the all-star Dek-Tette (with Art Pepper's razor sharp alto much to the fore) that it balanced out any vocal excess, not only creating a succession of eternally fresh sounding albums of the highest quality but ones that proved to be the most listenable in the Torme canon. Indeed, for many, they represent the zenith of Tormé’s extensive recording career. For confirmation, ‘Too Darn Hot’ is (damn it) as good as it gets.