AMG Review of September Song

Greg Adams
All Music Guide

After decades of novelty and comedy recordings, film roles and television work, Jimmy Durante was invited into the studio to record a "serious" album of standards and originals. Durante himself was uncertain about the project, but the resulting album was in every way a success. It was Durante's only album to enter the Top 40, and the title track made Billboard's Top Pop 100. Mixing Durante's utterly unique voice with lush strings and a vocal chorus, September Song is a left-field masterpiece full of wistful and affecting performances. Durante was by no means a technically accomplished vocalist, but he negotiated the sessions with aplomb and created a piece of work very different from, but just as charming as, the comedy that had made him a star.