Vocalist John Allee came up with a brilliant idea: bring the lyrics from the plays of William Shakespeare, and put them in a bohemian jazz milieu. John’s tenor of a voice is tamed with the hep cats of Mahesh Balasooriya/p, Aaron McLendon/dr, Dominic Thiroux/b, Javier Vergara/ts and Matt Von Rederick/tp for a Baker’s Dozen Bard tunes, and it works wonderfully.
Allee’s voice teams with Vergara for some late night hues on a relaxed “Bardfly Blues/Samingo” while the team gives a New Orleans hip beat with a bright trumpet on “Until The Break of Day.” Thiroux and Allee give a noir atmosphere to the beatnick’d “The Hungry Lion” while McLendon goes mano a mano with the singer on a dark road of “Never Come Again.” A bit of Broadway polish is sleek for “Come Away Death” and the nocturne “Mistress Mine” with Roderick’s muted horn is a tour de force. Vergara gets things bluesy and Allee stretches his lyrics on a well conceived “Philomel/Hold Thy Peace” and with a whimsical “ The Wind and the Rain” shows the lighter side of the Bard.
Fantastic! What’s next? Christopher Marlowe?