1.
On the Other Side of the Tracks
2.
Just One of Those Things
3.
I'm Beginning to see the Light
4.
Have You Met Miss Jones?
5.
Like Young
6.
What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?
7.
I Don't Care, Only Love Me
8.
Besame Mucho
9.
Meditation
10.
The Best Man
11.
Hello, Young Lovers
12.
At Last
13.
If Ever I Would Leave You
14.
My Funny Valentine
15.
Windmills of Your Mind
16.
That's All
Matthew
Ford - Vocals
John
Horler - Piano, Hammond organ, arranger
Jim Mullen - Guitar
Jim Hart - Vibes, marimba
Dave Chamberlain - Bass
Jeremy Brown - Bass
Matt Skelton - Drums
Mike Lovatt - Trumpet
Colin Skinner - Alto sax, flute, clarinet
,
arranger
Robert Fowler - Tenor sax, clarinet
Alistair White - Trombone
Pete North - Bass trombone
It
seems fashionable nowadays to call yourself
a jazz singer even if the description is inappropriate.
Perhaps vocalists are tempted to do this because
they see the success of genuine jazz singers
like Diana Krall or Stacey Kent, but it contravenes
the Trade Descriptions Act. Many self-declared
jazz singers are simply imitators. Matthew
Ford first came to notice in 1996 when he
imitated Harry Connick Jr. on ITV's Stars
in Their Eyes. Matthew is a good singer
but not a great one. His pitching sometimes
falters and he's not a jazz improviser. He
clearly comes into the category of "easy listening"
and there's nothing wrong with this - except
that his publicity uses the word "jazz" to
describe him and he's on the jazz label Diving
Duck. This may lead potential listeners to
expect something different from what is really
here. You actually get a pleasant crooner
rather in the mould of Michael Buble (or all
those Ratpack impressionists), backed by some
of Britain's finest jazz musicians.
His
accompanists here are undoubted jazzmen and
they do good work - nine musicians playing
in permutations ranging from nine to just
one (pianist John Horler on If Ever I Would
Leave You). In fact I found myself listening
especially to the short solos from some of
the jazz players - like those from John Horler
and Jim Hart (the latter on marimba) in Besame
Mucho, tenorist Robert Fowler in Meditation,
and guitarist Jim Mullen in My Funny Valentine.
John
Horler and Colin Skinner devised the arrangements
and John says in the sleeve-note that he "favoured
a small West Coast jazz feel". Both arrangers
have achieved this very well: in fact much
of the album's appeal comes from the variety
of backings. Particular delights are the cheeky
Grieg quotation which opens I Don't Care,
Only Love Me; the Dixieland bounce
of The Best Man; and the unusually
slow tempo chosen for Have You Met Miss
Jones? (recalling Count Basie's Li'l
Darlin' in its leisurely pace). In sum,
the backing musicians make what might have
been an acceptable but fairly ordinary album
into something rather special.
Tony
Augarde
CD Reviews
Diving
Duck DDRCD 007
