It was a couple of years ago when Alexander Stewart burst into my existence at The Spice of Life and completely knocked me out with his set.Later, my parochial loyalties were stretched to the limit when he took on local boy Jason Isaacs in the final of the TV People's Crooner Competition.
Since then he has appeared at London's coolest music venues including Ronnie's, Pizza, Hideaway etc so it was only a matter of time before Alexander Stewart's work was captured on CD - hopefully the first of many.
The obvious comparison is with Michael Bublé and with no disrespect to the Canadian - who is a favourite of mine - I feel that Stewart captures the legacy of his spiritual mentors (Sinatra, Bennett etc) better and adds a dash of his own angostura to the mix. The selection of songs is impeccable - No Moon at All, Young at Heart, Easy To Love, All The Way to mention but a few. Paul Simon's Fifty Ways To Leave Your Lover is a surprising but effective choice.
The Alex Webb Trio, Webb on piano, Gary Crosby and Andy Chapman on bass and drums respectively, give solid backing with some dazzling alto from Nat Facey providing the icing on the cake.
Alexander Stewart - All or Nothing at All distributed by Proper Note Distribution. Released today -Sept. 5, 2011.
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