Featuring Vocalists: Louise Clare Marshall; Matt Ford
Live recording at Birmingham Town Hall
Doyen Recordings: CD446
It’s been a long-held ambition of Mike Lovatt to record his own appreciation of the acclaimed studio recording arrangements of the great Billy May.
That was finally realised in August last year (20 years after May’s death) with this live concert recording made at Birmingham Town Hall. There the trumpet star was joined by his own ‘studio’ team of 25 handpicked musicians for an evening packed with new arrangements made by his long-term musical collaborator, Colin Skinner.
Cultured artistry
May would surely have been delighted with the updated tribute to the last great era of the Hollywood big bands and the vocal icons of Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald whose own relaxed brilliance was also blessed by the rarest gifts of cultured artistry. Unfortunately, schedules and circumstance meant they never recorded together other than for two brief television appearances.
Skinner’s remarkable skill as a musical enabler evokes May’s own inspired ‘one-offs’ for the likes of Jimmy Van Heusen, Harold Arnold, Cole Porter et al
Skinner’s remarkable skill as a musical enabler evokes May’s own inspired ‘one-offs’ for the likes of Jimmy Van Heusen, Harold Arnold, Cole Porter et al; moulded in revision rather than ardent reinvention (despite there being no May inspired ‘slurping saxes’). The result is a series of cleverly realised appreciations, nuanced and subtle rather than obvious in pastiche.
Elegant cut
The 17 tracks have an elegantly cut sharpness that at no point loses the essential balance or texture of the original alchemy; the nods and echoes firm in their understanding, the style refined in its rhythmic precision and drive, elastic as well as taut - from ‘Young at Heart’ and ‘I’ve Got the World on a String’ to ‘In the Still of the Night’ and ‘The Tender Trap’. ‘I’m gonna go Fishin’ and the cameo-hit medley ‘May’s Way’ are hooked with the catchiest of grooves.
The outstanding vocalists also bring distinctive individuality to their appreciation, infusing their interpretations with clarity and insight
The outstanding vocalists also bring distinctive individuality to their appreciation, infusing their interpretations with clarity and insight. Ford maintains a languid liquidity, from the sardonic to the passionate in his solo leads, whilst Marshall sizzles with virtuosity, from scat to sensuality - although it is the melancholic ‘mea culpa’ on ‘Miss Otis Regrets’ (with a sublime cameo by trombonist Gordon Campbell) that takes the breath away.
Diamond cut
Throughout it all though the undoubted focal point is Lovatt – a star lead of charismatic diamond cut sound and style, although such is his own generosity of spirit that he also takes his place on the spotlight carousel.
It is one that amply focusses attention on each member of the 25 ‘Brass Pack’ – the brass, strings and percussion teams displaying their own talents in full, from the opening ‘Sinatra Overture’ to the ‘Frank & Ella’ medley to end.
Iwan Fox
To purchase:
Wobplay: http://www.wobplay.com
CD: https://www.worldofbrass.com/102209
Download: https://www.worldofbrass.com/102209-download
Track list:
1. Sinatra Overture (various arr. Skinner)
2. I’ve Got the World on a String (Arlen & Koehler arr. Skinner)
3. May’s Way (various arr. Skinner)
4. Look to your heart (Van Heusen & Cahn arr. Skinner)
5. I’m Gonna Live Till I Die (Kent, Curtis & Hoffman arr. Skinner)
6. Dindi (Jobim, Curtis & Hoffman arr. Skinner)
7. In the Still of the Night (Porter arr. Skinner)
8. All the Way (Van Heusen & Cahn arr. Skinner)
9. (Love is) The Tender Trap (Van Heusen & Cahn arr. Skinner)
10. Young at Heart (Richards & Leigh arr. Skinner)
11. A Portrait of Ella (various arr. Skinner)
12. (If You Can’t Sing it) You’ll have to Swing it (Mr Paganini) (Coslow arr. Skinner)
13. Miss Otis Regrets (Porter arr. Skinner)
14. I’m gonna go Fishin’ (Ellington & Lee arr. Skinner)
15. Here’s that Rainy Day (Van Heusen & Burke arr. Skinner)
16. It’s only a Paper Moon (Arlen, Harburg & Rose arr. Skinner)
17. Frank and Ella (various arr. Skinner)
