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Reviewers: Don Mather, Dick Stafford, Marc Bridle, John Eyles, Ian Lace, Colin Clarke, Jack Ashby



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Crotchet

CURTIS STIGERS

You Inspire Me

Concord CCD-2185

    1. I Feel fine
    2. Fools in Love
    3. Crazy Moon
    4. Did You Ever Have to make up Your Mind
    5. Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright
    6. She’s Got a Way
    7. Tired of Waiting for You
    8. You Inspire Me
    9. Love
    10. I fall In Love Too easily
    11. I’ll Be Home
    12. Blue Skies

Curtis Stigers – voice, tenor sax

Larry Golding – piano, Hammond B3

Matt Wilson – drums

Ben Allison – bass

David Tranzo electric slide guitar

John Sneider - trumpet

A friend introduced me to the work of Curtis Stigers, a former pop singer who returned to jazz because he believed in the music. On the album the friend loaned me, he sang the Great American song book and I thoroughly enjoyed it. On this new album, he made a conscious decision to find songs that may become part of that Great songbook in the future. On some of them I’m sure he is right, but I’m not so sure about some others. He performs them all however with that nice tuneful laid-back style that I was introduced to on the previous album. The playing of John Sneider on trumpet is very complementary to the singer’s style and the backings throughout are of a high quality. He does not desert the standard songs altogether, tracks 10 and 12 fall into that bracket.

The best tracks for me were I feel Fine & Tired of Waiting, which has a good vamp at the start and moves into 6/8 in parts, it also has a very good piano solo from Larry Golding. You Inspire Me is another great tune and Curtis gives a fine interpretation of it, I Fall In Love Too Easily is a great song, but I could have done without the heavy off-beats, they don’t suit the song. I would love to hear Curtis do this as a straight ballad. Blue Skies is taken very effectively as a slow, it brings us back to the best of Curtis, he is a high quality singer and this is a high quality Irving Berlin tune.

Overall this is a good album from a fine singer and sax player with an excellent backing group.

Don Mather

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