= DAYS OF WINE OF ROSES =

FOREWORD

Not many people can say they have lived with a musical genius or have ever known one for that matter. Of course, we all have been exposed to great music created by great minds, but I had the privilege to love and work with one and proudly call him a father. As I learned living with Henry Mancini, and much more since his death, his music is so ingrained in our culture and in our lives that his melodies are like familiar faces that make us smile when we see them.

When I was 14, along with my sister and brother, I started singing on his albums for RCA and continued to do so for more than 20 years. I think that experience of being in the studio, with Henry at the podium or in the booth, allowed me to see the man as well as the father; the heart and soul of Henry Mancini was in there, with the musicians, engineers, the singers. You always left a Mancini session in a good mood. He saw to that. And you never turned down a Mancini gig because you knew what you'd be missing.

His concerts were the same. Uplifting. And he wanted the players to get as much out of it as the audience. He loved other musicians and constantly acknowledged them. He often said that he as nothing without the players. But I knew that wasn't true. I only recently realized what a genius my father was while sitting in the audience at one of his concerts in Dallas. He was playing some music he had written for "Creature From the Black Lagoon" and even though I was in the midst of several hundred people I felt chills and fear. The music took me to a place in a dark lagoon with a slimy creature in the seat behind me. I felt all the emotions he intended me to feel - without the benefit of a screen or darkened movie theater! I realized at the moment what power music could have, and that my dad possessed that power. I was impressed.

He never gave himself the credit he deserved, not only for writing some of the most beautiful, lasting music of all time, but for his truly remarkable and innovative contribution to the genre of film scoring, the encouragement and training of young musicians and composers and for being a decent, gentle, funny, down-to-earth man.

This compilation of his work represents the very best of my father's work. My family is extremely proud to endorse this wonderful release and it was assembled with love and affection for a man who touched all of our lives. I'm almost sure that he never expected to leave such a lasting and beautiful legacy - he just wanted to write music. And happily for us, we will have that forever.

- Felice Mancini
September 1995