2003 Reprise Records
SQ Issue: Summer 2004, Volume 14, Issue 3
The Band:
Piano: Michael Melvoin, Randy Waldman, David Foster;
Bass: Brian Bromberg, David Foster; Drums: Dave Tull, Vinnie Colaiuta, Frank Capp, Joe
Labarbera; Guitar: Michael Thompson, Dean
Parks, John Pisano, Heitor Pereira; Percussion: Rafael
Padilla, Dean Parks; Trumpet Solos: Gary
Grant; Synthesizer: Neil Devor, Felipe
Elgueta; Saxophones: Bob Sheppard, Dave
Boroff
“This kid can really swing. That, in a nutshell, sums up the extraordinary
appeal of a 25 year-old Vancouver vocalist with a gift for making some of the greatest
songs of all time entirely his own.” – Website.
This is a
pretty good CD for a few reasons. First off,
Bublé is a pretty decent singer and he surrounded himself with great musicians. I find 7 of the 13 songs good for swing dancing. Second, Bublé has jazzified some recognizable pop
songs like Van Morrison’s Moondance, George Michael’s Kissing a Fool
and Queen’s Crazy Little Thing Called Love.
Both Moondance and Crazy… are okay songs that are
danceable but what I like best about these two songs, as well as Michael’s, is that
these types of songs should have crossover appeal. What
better way to attract the attention of pop music fans?
Take some of their songs and make them swing.
A great way to attract new jazz fans.
I found
Bublé’s singing to be okay for the better part of the CD. I thought Fever could have a little more
passion in it. It’s pretty straight
forward singing and he could have really grabbed you with a little more feeling in his
singing.
Songs I thought
were better than average were For Once in My Life, Summer Wind and Come
Fly with Me; all Sinatra standards. There
will never be another Chairman of the Board but Bublé’s covers are a nice
compliment.
There are some
songs better left to the original artists. Two
worth mentioning are How Can You Mend a Broken Heart, a Bee Gee’s cover and You’ll
Never Find Another Love Like Mine, a Lou Rawls cover.
Neither grab you nor do they offer any reason to stop listening to the much
better original versions. Ironically, Barry
Gibb offered backing vocals for the former song.
I see Bublé as
the boy version of Norah Jones. He should
gets some acclaim nationally (or internationally, I should say, since he’s a
Canadian) for his work and it’s a good effort at “mainstreaming” jazz for a
Britney Spears world.
Bottom Line: To buy or not to buy….. Go ahead and buy it!