by William Ruhlmann
The third entry in Ray Conniff's series of neo-swing easy listening albums, 'S Awful Nice followed 'S Wonderful! and 'S Marvelous into hit status, reaching the Top Ten and spending a year in the charts. As ever, Conniff's writing was danceable, with his wordless choir carrying the melodies, doubled by the horn and reed sections. The song selection remained blue chip, especially in the Jerome Kern standards "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes," "All The Things You Are" (dominated by Bernie Glow's trumpet) and "Lovely to Look At."