Exposed at last – the dual musical personality of Richard Maltby! This imaginative two-sided affair reveals the wide dimensions of his interpretive ability – selections presented with a bright overall freshness, played with warmth and assurance. Whatever your taste, be it boogie or blues, tango or swing, you can have your pick at the flip of a disc – from ‘Maltby Mild’ to ‘Maltby Wild.’ The call of the ‘Wild’ is resoundingly set forth in Hep Cats Somersault – a boogie-woogie excursion into the acrobatic realm of topsy-turvydom. Terry Snyder on xylophone and Artie Drelinger on bass sax lead the instrumental cross rhythms in this swing-fling of cavorting musical cart wheels. Equally frantic is the musical romp called Tag. Herded by the tattletale tinkling of Buddy Weed’s piano, the instruments engage in a harmonic “hide-and-seek” that builds into an expansive “free-for-all” finale. Free-wheeling, too, but on a higher plane, is the novel Yodel Polka. The Alps provide the setting for this zesty combination of exuberant Tyrolean yodelling, the polka’s spontaneous liveliness and the vibrant and vivacious singing voice of Mary Mazza. Another distinguished voice is heard in the swinging Freddie’s Blues – the instrumental voice of Richard Maltby’s trumpet, backed by trombones, piano and the tenor sax of Boomie Richman. From the past, the familiar voice of the Charleston is also revamped by the Maltby crew into the idiom of modern sounds. With a fast “twenty-three-skidoo,” the four-quarter rhythm is offered as a syncopated, jam-packed “dancerama” called the Charleston Beat. The ‘Mild’ side is a study of good-mannered vivacity. Lost: One Sheep swings like a rambling ram, with an ensemble flurry that belies its spiritual origins. Terry Snyder on vibes and Artie Drelinger on bass sax are the lead sheep scouts. Charming Mary Mazza makes another appearance, this time radiating tenderness in a romantic ballad that’s backed by Richard Maltby’s trumpet. Based in part on Tchaikowsky’s ‘2nd Piano Concerto,’ it’s now called Soft Whispers Of The Night. The night is usually reserved for dreaming, so Maltby and crew oblige with A Dreamer’s Dream, a bouncy melodious caper that permits you to realize your most avid ambitions. Quiltin’ Bee snaps the dreamy spell with a novel re-enactment of a quaint old Colonial American custom, which found the women of the village gathering under one roof to sew the quilts for the winter ahead. The gossip galore rebounds from the instruments, with Buddy Weed’s celesta weaving the lilting theme lining. A convivial gathering is the scene of another gracious presentation. This time, the hosts are the Argentinian gauchos with an invitation to partake in roast oxen, maté, and a brace of melancholy songs. Richard Maltby and his amigos join the festivities with a Tango Chiquito… a tiny tango replete with sultry brasses, bongos, tambourine and castanets.