Here’s a great quiz question – name the US musician who’s won 20 Grammys (nominated for 72!), 4 Oscars (nominated for 18!), a Golden Globe and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award? No, not Burt Bacharach, John Williams, Danny Elfman or any other fly by night! The answer is Enrico Nicola Mancini… HENRY MANCINI to you and me!

Born in 1924, Henry Mancini was a prolific composer, arranger, producer, conductor and performer and you can catch up with some of his very best work via a new 30 track compilation from budget label, Jasmine Records.

Most people know Mancini for his iconic ‘Pink Panther’ theme. Sadly that’s not included here. It was released in 1963 – outside the remit of this collection which covers 1956 – 1962. But who needs it when you can enjoy stuff like ‘The Peter Gunn Theme’, ‘Big Noise From Winnetka’, ‘The Days Of Wine And Roses’, ‘The Second Time Around’ and the incomparable and enigmatic ‘Moon River’. Interestingly, that song – one of the worlds’s most covered – was almost lost. A Paramount movie exec wanted to cut it from ‘Breakfast At Tiffany’s’. The movie’s star Audrey Hepburn demanded (thankfully) that it stayed… and the rest…

HENRY MANCINI; MOON RIVER the singles collection 1956 – 1962 is out now