by Scott Yanow
For this interesting but not essential CD reissue, pianist Hampton Hawes, along with bassist Chuck Israels and drummer Donald Bailey, tries his best to uplift then-current songs (plus his original &Rhonda&) including &Fly Me to the Moon,& &What Kind of Fool Am I,& &Chim Chim Cheree,& and even &People.& In general, the treatments are somewhat straight-ahead (&The Girl from Ipanema& is taken as swing rather than bossa nova), and Hawes' solos transform some of the tunes a bit.