I'm going to come clean, I've never been a fan of that 1960s' phenomenon known as the Beatles. I found most of their lyrics either amateurish or so profound that only they knew what they meant!
However, after dispensing with the words, the vocals, the inept drumming and the basically average instrumentalists what do we have left?
The music! It is no surprise that many of their tunes have, over the years with varying degrees of success, been picked up by symphony orchestras, big bands, jazz singers and anyone who wanted to hitch their wagon to a star - most of whom should have known better.
An exception is Norwegian pianist/composer Helge Iberg who brings a new dimension to some of the old chart-toppers as well as introducing me to one or two of those that had flown under my radar.
It may be difficult to describe this as an out and out jazz album but, despite the occasional classical flourishes, there is no other genre that it is closer to.
If you were having a candlelit supper with 'that certain someone' you wouldn't want to have Yellow Submarine providing the mood music - at least not by the four lads from Liverpool! However, Iberg's reflective interpretation of the same tune might just help to put breakfast for two on the menu...
Well worth checking out - you never know your luck! Lance
Available April 29 on NXN Recordings.
Blackbird; Yellow Submarine; Eleanor Rigby; Lady Madonna; Michelle; Ob-Ladi-Obla-Da; And I Love Her; Mother Nature's Son; Come Together; Here Comes the Sun; She's Leaving Home; Nowhere Man.
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