Roger Cairns – A Scot
In L.A. (CD)
Sound: B-
Music: B
After so many Jazz vocal albums, when you think you have
heard it all, Roger Cairns takes a somewhat retro take on the genre without
trying to imitate or do a synthetic throwback album with A Scot In L.A.
(2006) and does it well enough to distinguish himself form a very competitive
market.
Even the vocals are from yesterday in that they are not
loud, pleasantly stylized and even disorienting at first, as if you found an
old vinyl Jazz record album and it is playing back with surprising
fidelity. Some of the tracks (which I
will not begin to go into) have simple lyrics than others, but winners include Never
Let Me Go, Lonely Town and Things Are Looking Up that are not
surprisingly known standards in the genre.
It is a CD fans will have to hear at least a few tracks from themselves
to get the point this critic is trying to make.
The PCM 2.0 16bit/44.1kHz Stereo is a stylized in a way
that cuts into the fidelity, though not so much to make it sound like an old
record but to sound in the style of older Jazz vocal recordings to match his
style and approach. Some will not like
this, but others will appreciate it and it is an approach worthy of respecting. You can go to www.rogercairns.com and find out more.
- Nicholas Sheffo
