Dean Martin, “Great Gentlemen of Song,” Capitol. ** 1/2

“Great Gentlemen” (and the accompanying “Great Ladies of Song”) isn’t a “best of” series for leading Capitol artists, so don’t expect such Martin hits as “Memories Are Made of This.” Instead, the series focuses on tasty, perhaps overlooked tracks by the various artists. This approach works well with a commanding song stylist like Nat King Cole, but Martin is more of a personality vocalist than a classic interpreter. It’s interesting to see how he largely ignores Nelson Riddle’s frisky arrangements and simply keeps moving at his ultra-relaxed pace. Things go smoother when buddy Frank Sinatra conducts the orchestra (with arrangements by Pete King) on more subdued tracks like “Dream” and “Sleepy Time Gal.”

Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (e x cellent).