‘Orchestral High Jinks’ is a fun album – a musical divertissement full of joviality and relaxed good spirits. The vivacity spreads like wildfire through all of these frisky selections, reflected by the lighthearted moods, exuberant soloist and the sparkling direction of maestro Nathaniel Shilkret. The bright motif is set forth in the opener, Fiddle Frolic, a dividend of revelry among the strings, voiced in a delightful vein and offering a sax solo by Jimmy Abato for its middle passage. Jimmy returns, but on clarinet, along with Albert Gallodoro, to handle the cavorting solos for Niel Hallett’s charming but madcap Clarinet Entr’Acte. Up next is Mary Had A Little Lamb – a witty and devastating parody in which, using the old nursery song as a foundation, composer Edward Ballantine (aided by maestro Shilkret’s spectacular orchestration) executes a series of variations in the styles of great composers. The tune is, of course, simplicity itself, but the first three variations present its transformation, in turn, in