I think most people will say his strongest period was the '50s, and that's when he was at Capitol Records. He was his most swingingnest there, even with his ballads. I love all of his output during that time. His two best, in my opinion, are "Songs For Swingin' Lovers" (largely uptempo) and "In The Wee Small Hours" (ballads), but there is not a bad album in all of the bunch. When he went to Warner Brothers and started the Reprise label, his output got more inconsistent. He started to get a bit prone to doing the "doobie doobie doo" thing and could almost resemble a parody of himself, getting a bit more Vegas and less about the music.
What brought him back down to earth and get musically serious again were his collaborations with other legendary musicians. His albums with Duke (Edward K) and Jobim and Count Basie are wonderful. He needed these strong collaborators to rein in his musical indulgences at this point.
Anyway, good luck and great listening.
Edits: 03/06/11 03/06/11
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