Bewitched
MSW-G028 [2006]

The joy of spring, the thrill of a new year, and a reaffirmed passion for the music is what brings this album, my sixth solo effort, into your hands. As Natalie Wood sang in Inside Daisy Clover, “You're Gonna Hear From Me,” but this time with a drive and a tangible need to surpass all previous recorded efforts. Carefully fashioned into a program from three distinct sessions, the song selection is diverse, the musicians varied, and the settings grow from small group to strings; a luxury previously unimaginable, made possible by the generosity of a corporate donor who simply wanted to see it happen. It has, and the results are nothing short of thrilling.

The principle session at hand was commissioned by the CBC for Jazz Beat in 2004. Captured in studio immediately following a week-long run at the Top o' the Senator with my working quartet, the radio session featured the sensitive guitar lead of Reg Schwager, whose playing and insight have graced my live dates since 1999 and recordings since 2001. Together with bassist Neil Swainson, Reg can be heard to full advantage across the disc on tracks such a the swinging “You Leave Me Breathless” and the lovely “Watch What Happens.”

Two of the ballads included here were recorded in 2002 for the intended follow-up to Eyes For You, aborted in the wake of drummer Jerry Fuller's death. Both the title track and the album closer are from Jerry's final studio session. “Bewitched” features Mark Eisenman's ever-eloquent and witty piano, brilliantly in counterpoint to the tongue-in-cheek drama provided by Lorenz Hart's tale of the older woman (in this case a man) besotted with a younger plaything. “Tonight May Have To Last Me All My Life” is a lovely Johnny Mercer lyric, recorded only once before, and never with strings.

The balance of the material has been newly prepared for this release, presenting my current rhythm section of Nancy Walker on piano, Steve Wallace on bass, Archie Alleyne on drums, and highlighting my favourite on-stage foil, tenor sax-man Michael Stuart. These tracks anchor the album in the here and now, documenting our most popular selections from the 2005-2006 season as played across Canada, most notably in Toronto's enduring jazz club of renown, the Montréal Bistro. The group really swings, and with special arrangements by dynamic post-modern pianist Nancy Walker, we move into musical territory previously unexplored by me on record.

In any collection culled from the Great American Songbook, I have occasion to salute a number of artists whose work has inspired and informs my own. Though at first glance the tunes may appear to be from disparate sources, these varied selections from the repertoires of Mildred Bailey, Al Hibbler, and a number of other great mid-twentieth century Crooners and Divas have a commonality of good writing that pulls them together. “Don't Be That Way” is an old-style romp that never fails to please musicians and audiences alike, and features a sparkling solo from the great Steve Wallace on bass.

The Shermans' hit for Nat King Cole, “To The Ends Of The Earth,” showcases the prowess of Ms Walker at the keys. A Juno Award winner in 2006 for best instrumental album, she has more room to stretch out here than on that lovely disc, driving me toward a performance I'd likely not have found on my own. We have a further opportunity to honour two singers in one shot with a bilingual performance of “La Belle Vie,” otherwise known in North America as “The Good Life.” Written and sung in the original French by vocalist Sacha Distel, it is in English, despite recordings by dozens of other popular singers of the day, most closely associated with Tony Bennett.

This highly varied program is very much the sort of musical encounter that, whether in a jazz club or cabaret, listeners enjoy most from me, with the kind of swing that brings them back time and again. Give the disc a spin and feel the passion for yourself.