A somewhat belated review, it was released in November but only reached my Victrola this month otherwise it would have been highly placed in the 2025 Vocal Albums of the Year. Apologies to all concerned.
I reviewed one of Marinaro's previous albums - Not Quite Yet - back in 2022 and I was impressed. Mood Ellington is equally impressive maybe even more so because of the material, the arrangements and Marinaro himself.
Not every vocalist can take an Ellington song and make it his own. Marinaro handles the music to the manner born. Whatever the mood his interpretations capture the composer's intent whilst putting his own stamp on it without doing any harm - it's a two-way street. The band, all kick-ass players themselves, have their fair share of solos. Hogarth's Carney-like baritone on Sophisticated Lady, Moore's alto flight on It Shouldn't Happen to a Dream, Crawford's mellifluous trombone intro and solo on A Flower is a Lovesome Thing, Jacobson's distant muted trumpet on Azure and Tate's bass-work on I Got it Bad are just some of the instrumental highlights that complement Marinaro's vocals.
The arrangements, by 13 of the finest*, add to the end result with charts that meet the different moods of which there are three spread over two discs. It doesn't get much better than this. Lance
Tracks one to nine are 'a celebration of love and beauty'. Tracks ten to seventeen 'comprises songs with a darker feel and a more introspective tone'. Tracks eighteen to twenty five, Marinaro says, 'tend to be more realistic, slightly sardonic, adult and exotic—neither as cheery as set one nor as dark as set two.'
*John Kornegay (1, 24); Alan Broadbent (2, 17); John Clayton (3, 11); Carey Deadman (4, 8); Chuck Israels (5); Mike Downes (6, 9); Ryan Cohan (7, 12, 18); Jim Gailloreto (10, 22); Bill Cunliffe (13); Chuck Owen (14); Tom Garling (15, 25); Tom Matta (16, 19, 20); Mike Allemana (21, 23)
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