Some lazy journalists and singing fans are trying to say that Canadian vocalist Alex Bird is a rival to fellow Canuck Michael Buble’. Well, after listening to his smoking debut, that critique is like saying that Kamasi Washington is a rival to Kenny G! As my daughter once said about Buble’, “If I want to listen to Mel Torme’, I’ll put on Mel Torme’”. Buble’ is “safe”, where as the more dangerous Bird, on the other hand, is the word!
First of all, Bird composes his own material along with his piano player/keyboardist Ewen Farncombe or producer Charlie Angus. Along with the Bill Miller/Frank Sinatra symbiotic team of Bird and Francombe, you get the streetwise crooner supported by drummer Eric West and bassist Scott Hunter. Together Bird sounds like a raspy carney as he enters the smoky room created by Hunter’s nifty bass and Farncombe’s humming Hammond on the slightly unsafe “Fire Not Warmth” while Bird takes West’s cool backbeat Farncombe’s hip keyboards and gets bold and declarative on “Gotta Run”. Some saloon sounding piano work has Bird servin’ ‘em up, Joe, as Bird goes from duet to full band on a Tin Pan Alley’d “Baby I’ll Have You” and he swaggers and like a guy that just won the winning lottery on the chicka-booming of “The Way She Moves”.
He’s able to keep and hold a note to create just the right amount of tension, creating long tones that create a mood like a scene from the Hound of Baskervilles on the foggy “Now Is The Night” while also able to be tender and intimate on the delicate title track, or reassuring around Farncombe’s piano intro on the almost subconscious delivery of “ I Almost Remembered”.
Bird’s writing, like his delivery, already has a completely underivative feel, with one foot in the tradition and the other in the dimly lit side streets. Check this guy out, and tell Fauci to open up the country so we can see this guy in concert!