****RINGER OF THE WEEK****Jonathan Bauer: Sings & Plays

It’s guys like trumpeter/singer Jonathan Bauer that make you love jazz. First of all, he’s got a horn that sounds like a testosteroned Chet Baker. Ditto his voice, that has a sublime swing but also a dash of vintage Louie Prima in terms if jive and swagger. With his team of Alexander Geddes/ts-fl, Mike Clement/g, Ryan Hanseler/p, Alex Dyring/b and Gerald Watkins Jr/dr, he sticks to standards, but arranges them in a way that is fresh and feisty. The team is hip for a street smart read of “Days of Wine And Roses” with Bauer singing confidently on the flexible “It Could Happen To You” while cozy on the drumless guitar/bass swing of “Exactly Like You”. Hanseler gives a Monkish intro with caroms before the team swings into “Just Friends” and Watkins delivers a pitter patter  pattern to the lilting “Love Is Hear To Stay”. Bauer jabs like a Hollander for “September in the Rain” and the team bops like it’s a night at Blue Note records on the instrumental “Doodlin’”. This album is why you 1) love jazz and 2) can’t stand posers like Buble’.

www.jonathanbauermusic.com

www.slamminmedia.ca

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