Mel Tormé

Long before he was a celebrated presence in film and television, this multitalented entertainer's crooning made him a midcentury sensation on the pop-jazz circuit. And while his sound and phrasing always carried a pleasing smoothness, he also brought an appropriate swing to tunes by the likes of Fats Waller. With a burnished sound that worked wonders in torch songs, Broadway tunes, and classics by Ellington, Tormé cut a unique path through 20th-century American music.