James Hudson's second album builds on his first album, Tomorrow, which was enthusiastically reviewed on BSH.
By his own admission, Hudson admits to being inspired by Marty Paich's arrangements for Mel Tormé as typified by Sing For Your Supper. He also nods towards the sound of the Shearing Quintet, the vibes of Wyld helping out in that endeavour.
He goes into crooning mode with Careless, a lesser known ballad by the team of Eddy Howard, Dick Jurgens and Lew Quadling. With the string ensemble for accompaniment it has that beautiful dreamy appeal of the early Sinatra numbers yet doesn't sound dated.
I must admit that Feed the Birds has never been one of my favourite tunes and nor did the film it came from, Mary Poppins, have me forking out for 'a seat in the stalls' so it was with some trepidation that I approached this track.
Hudson does the words, such as they are, justice although it's Smith's sax blast that helps to obliterate the memory of Julie Andrews.
The band kicks ass on every number, the arrangements and the solos pushing the singer to even greater heights than he probably hadn't visualised when he went into the studio.
Four is an absolute blast! Hudson moving in to Jon Hendricks' territory and maybe moving a little bit more...
A front runner for vocal album of the year - any year! Lance
Available March 15 from the various online hucksters.
On a Clear Day; Feed the Birds; From This Moment on; Moonray; That's All; Sing For Your Supper; Four; Careless; Sunny; The Nearness of You
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