Back in March of 2021, the debut album of vocalist/songwriter Alex Bird and his band The Mavericks came out and punched me like a right cross. Unlike most vocal albums, it was original, it was hip, it was completely underived and it swung.
Well, Bird and the band haven’t run out of ideas for their follow-up here. And it’s not just “more of the same” as the band of Ewen Farncombe/p-B3-arr, Eric West/dr and Leighton Harrell/b have added Jacob Gorzhaltsan/sax/cl to the fold, and he definitely adds a new dimension.
There’s also a string quartet included on a couple of tracks , and with the addition of tribe member Gorzhaltsan you now get a bit of Old World sounds on the gloriously shmaltzy intro of Bird and strings (hmm…what a concept) leading into the almost oxymoronic romantic klezmer of “Where The Blackbird Sings”. But it works, and works well! A bit of Borscht Belt is also provided as guest Rom Richards adds his growling trombone to the vaudevillian “My Cutie Pie”, while a whole horn section joins in to give Bird a Tin Pan Alley feel on the relaxed “Old Soul”.
Bird himself is as confident as the boy next door delivering the paper, giving a rich solo intro to the title tune before Farncombe’s saloon-tapered fingers stride into a rich swagger with the band. Bird sets ‘em up, Joe, with Alexander Brown’s muted horn on the later than closing time “Fool For Love”, while he allows Farncombe to enter stage right for about a minute before finally stepping into the spotlight to tell the convincing tale of “I Held You In My Arms”. a
Bird and the band know how to spin a yarn, as Harrell and Gorzhaltsan create subtones with West’s tom toms and form a film noir mood, just waiting for Gloria Graham on “Back To You”, while “Thinkin’ ‘Bout You Tonight” as the vocalist teamed with the sustained string section to make you feel like you’re taking in a Broadway aria. The closing piano/vocal duo “Honey Bee Lullaby” is reminiscent of the seminal sessions of Tony Bennett with Bill Evans, both relaxed, earnest and luscious.
Due to COVID, this team has not had a chance to tour, so when they do, run, don’t walk, to see them if they’re within 100 miles of your town.