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The 1963 Impulse! Records LP John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman helped to redefine the renowned jazz saxophonist by pairing him with a singer on a collection of standards, showing that Coltrane wasn't (or wasn't only) an avant-gardist bent on playing free jazz. Nearly 50 years later, Kirk Whalum's Romance Language isn't going to have the same impact on his career, even though he has recorded the same half-dozen tunes with his brother Kevin Whalum taking the vocals. Kirk doesn't have Coltrane's reputation for one thing, and for another, he and Kevin are not trying to re-create the Coltrane/Hartman sound on Romance Language; they just happen to be performing the same songs. In their readings, evergreens like Irving Berlin's "They Say It's Wonderful," Billy Strayhorn's "Lush Life," and Rodgers & Hart's "You Are Too Beautiful" are given smooth jazz arrangements typical of Kirk's other albums. Fellow musicians such as John Stoddart (prominently featured on electric piano on "Lush Life"), Kevin Turner (who solos on electric guitar on the long coda to "You Are Too Beautiful"), and Michael "Nomad" Ripoll (who launches "Autumn Serenade" with some flamenco-style acoustic guitar) join in to produce instrumental beds for Kirk to solo over in a warm, unhurried manner. And Kevin has a burnished croon more reminiscent of Nat King Cole than Hartman (who was in the Billy Eckstine school of singers). To fill out the disc to CD-worthy length, Kirk performs instrumentals of more contemporary material by the likes of Eric Benet and Terry Lewis & Jimmy Jam Harris. And the brothers' 83-year-old uncle, Hugh "Peanuts" Whalum, comes on to sing "Almost Doesn't Count" and shows them how it should be done. He is closer in sound and spirit to the album being paid tribute here, and his sole contribution whets the appetite for more.
© William Ruhlmann /TiVo
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Irving Berlin, Composer - KIRK WHALUM, MainArtist - Irving Berlin (Eng) Music, MusicPublisher
(C) 2012 Mack Avenue Records II, LLC (P) 2012 Mack Avenue Records II, LLC
Sammy Cahn, Composer - KIRK WHALUM, MainArtist - HY ZARET, Composer - SAUL CHAPLIN, Composer - Chappel & Co, MusicPublisher - argosy music corp/helene blue musique ltd., MusicPublisher - Cahn Music Company/WB Music Corp, MusicPublisher
(C) 2012 Mack Avenue Records II, LLC (P) 2012 Mack Avenue Records II, LLC
KIRK WHALUM, MainArtist - Colgems EMI Music Inc. ASCAP, MusicPublisher - Guy Wood-Robert Mellin, Composer
(C) 2012 Mack Avenue Records II, LLC (P) 2012 Mack Avenue Records II, LLC
KIRK WHALUM, MainArtist - Billy Strayhorn, Composer - Billy Strayhorn Songs Inc./ Chrysalis One Music, MusicPublisher
(C) 2012 Mack Avenue Records II, LLC (P) 2012 Mack Avenue Records II, LLC
KIRK WHALUM, MainArtist - Richard Rodgers Lorenz Hart, Composer - Williamson Music Co/Warner Bros Music, MusicPublisher
(C) 2012 Mack Avenue Records II, LLC (P) 2012 Mack Avenue Records II, LLC
KIRK WHALUM, MainArtist - Peter De Rose, Composer - Sammy Gallop, Composer - EMI Robbin Catalog Inc., MusicPublisher - Sammy Gallop Music/WB Music Corp, MusicPublisher
(C) 2012 Mack Avenue Records II, LLC (P) 2012 Mack Avenue Records II, LLC
KIRK WHALUM, MainArtist - Hidden Pun Music/EMI Blackwood, MANUITI L.A./BMG SONGS INC, MusicPublisher - Shelly Peiken Guy Roche, Composer
(C) 2012 Mack Avenue Records II, LLC (P) 2012 Mack Avenue Records II, LLC
James Harris III, Composer - TERRY LEWIS, Composer - KIRK WHALUM, MainArtist - James Quenton Wright, Composer - MINNEAPOLIS GUYS MUSIC/JI BRANDA MUSIC/ FLYTE TYME TUNES/EMI APRIL MUSIC, MusicPublisher
(C) 2012 Mack Avenue Records II, LLC (P) 2012 Mack Avenue Records II, LLC
Jolyon Skinner, Composer - Michele Williams, Composer - KIRK WHALUM, MainArtist - JOE THOMAS, Composer - Universal Music-Z Tunes, MusicPublisher - 563 MUSIC PUBLISHING/CONVERSATION TREE ENT, MusicPublisher - 1972 MUSIC/EMI Foray Music, MusicPublisher
(C) 2012 Mack Avenue Records II, LLC (P) 2012 Mack Avenue Records II, LLC
KIRK WHALUM, MainArtist - DEMONTE POSEY, Composer - Eric Benét, Composer - George Nash Jr., Composer - PARADISE FOREVER/INDIA B. MUSIC/UNIVERSAL-SONGS OF POLYGRAM, MusicPublisher - DEMONTE'S MUSIC PUBLISHING/WARNER-TAMERLANE PUB CORP., MusicPublisher - PARADISE FOREVER/INDIA B. MUSIC/UNIVERSAL-SONGS OF POLYGRAM, DEMONTE'S MUSIC PUBLISHING/WARNER-TAMERLANE PUB CORP., MusicPublisher
(C) 2012 Mack Avenue Records II, LLC (P) 2012 Mack Avenue Records II, LLC
Album review
The 1963 Impulse! Records LP John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman helped to redefine the renowned jazz saxophonist by pairing him with a singer on a collection of standards, showing that Coltrane wasn't (or wasn't only) an avant-gardist bent on playing free jazz. Nearly 50 years later, Kirk Whalum's Romance Language isn't going to have the same impact on his career, even though he has recorded the same half-dozen tunes with his brother Kevin Whalum taking the vocals. Kirk doesn't have Coltrane's reputation for one thing, and for another, he and Kevin are not trying to re-create the Coltrane/Hartman sound on Romance Language; they just happen to be performing the same songs. In their readings, evergreens like Irving Berlin's "They Say It's Wonderful," Billy Strayhorn's "Lush Life," and Rodgers & Hart's "You Are Too Beautiful" are given smooth jazz arrangements typical of Kirk's other albums. Fellow musicians such as John Stoddart (prominently featured on electric piano on "Lush Life"), Kevin Turner (who solos on electric guitar on the long coda to "You Are Too Beautiful"), and Michael "Nomad" Ripoll (who launches "Autumn Serenade" with some flamenco-style acoustic guitar) join in to produce instrumental beds for Kirk to solo over in a warm, unhurried manner. And Kevin has a burnished croon more reminiscent of Nat King Cole than Hartman (who was in the Billy Eckstine school of singers). To fill out the disc to CD-worthy length, Kirk performs instrumentals of more contemporary material by the likes of Eric Benet and Terry Lewis & Jimmy Jam Harris. And the brothers' 83-year-old uncle, Hugh "Peanuts" Whalum, comes on to sing "Almost Doesn't Count" and shows them how it should be done. He is closer in sound and spirit to the album being paid tribute here, and his sole contribution whets the appetite for more.
© William Ruhlmann /TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 10 track(s)
- Total length: 00:55:06
- 1 Digital booklet
- Main artists: Kirk Whalum
- Composer: Various Composers
- Label: Rendezvous Music
- Genre: Jazz
(C) 2012 Mack Avenue Records II, LLC (P) 2012 Mack Avenue Records II, LLC
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