Two albums from the Decca years, Cheek to Cheek and A Handful of Stars, digitally re-mastered and combined to make one album of 22 well-known melodies arranged by Johnny Douglas. For some he successfully blends the combination of a dance orchestra with lush strings and in the others he creates a soft romantic style.

Before signing up with Decca, Johnny Douglas spent many years playing the piano and orchestrating for a number of top-line British orchestras and thereby gained a wealth of experience in the world of recording and broadcasting. He orchestrated and directed the musical accompaniment for such famous artists as Joan Regan, David Whitfield, Dickie Valentine, Lita Rosa, Lys Assia, Al Martino Suzi Miller and the Johnston Brothers. He showed a strong flair for melody and richness of sound in his backings. It was often said in musical circles that Johnny’s kind of music should have its own presentation as well as being a showcase for vocal renderings, and in this Decca was in complete agreement. Johnny himself long felt the need for filling a gap in modern music styles and so directed his attention to the sphere between the orthodox dance orchestra, consisting of brass, saxes and rhythm, and the more serious light orchestra which became so popular.

As this album demonstrates the result is most pleasing to the ears; the brass, rhythm and strings are handled with such tact and skill, creating a sound that is richly melodic, lush but not sickly, and rhythmic without any offensive blare. It begins with melodies from the famous musical films of Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire and ends with Cole Porter, a delightful finish that will have you still dancing as it fades into the middle distance. This is the smoothest music you will have heard for a long time, and a triumph of the art of Johnny Douglas.