John Proulx: Say It

During his career, pianist/singer John Proulx has used his Chet Baker-toned voice to create a modern West Coast cool vibe on his albums and concerts. For this recent album, he continues to team up with Angelenos, namely Chuck Berghofer/b, Joe LaBarbera/dr, Larry Koonse/g, Bob Sheppard/ts-ss and Billy Hulting/perc along with some rich string arrangements provided by Alan Broadbent to stretch out his talents with new colors and tones.

His voice still has that attractive calm and assurance on the peppy “Gentle Rain” and comforting title track, expressive “Watch What Happens” while sounding reflective and convincing on his intro to the melancholic “Something to Live For.” His voice is perfectly hipped up as he teams with Sheppard’s soprano on a clever “Scatsville” and gets Mose Allison cool for “I Don’t Worry About a Thing.” Broadbent’s strings create a pastoral landscape for a dreamy “Both Sides Now” and a thoughtful “The Last Goodbye,” with Proulx going into an intriguing direction. Strong and personal, still with enough  polish and swing to cruise along PCH with the top down.

www.johnproulx.com

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