Could this be the Jazz Vocal Album of the Year? It’s got my vote. Who else could just sit behind a piano and deliver an hour’s worth of slower than slow ballads and make you pray to God it never ends? Andy Bey’s voice is as close to sorghum molasses as you’ll ever hear, and he lets it ooze like it’s dripping over pancakes and butter on this collection of jazz classics.
Yes, some of the tunes have a bit of a pep to them; Bey adds a homespun joy on “Take the “A” Train”,but for the most part, you get confessionals such as “My Foolish Heart” and “How Long Has This Been Going On” as well as chain gang readings of material like “I’ve Got a Right To Sing The Blues” and “ Worried Life Blues.” Love tunes are like a soft couch in front of the golden embered fireplace on “Everything I Have Is Yours’ and “All Roads Lead Back to You” and makes every syllable count, as well as weigh in with complete importance as it steps around the linen drapery as on “Lover Come Back to Me.” Can anyone think of another male vocalist who would even attempt to shed off all sense of glib hipness and bare his soul like this? Possibly the Last of the Mohicans.
High Note Records