Reviewed by Alastair McCollum

Listening to this album I have to restrain myself from looking sideways at an invisible camera and saying "smooth" or "nice" every few minutes. It's jazz, man, of the kind you'd expect on a visit to Ronny Scott's or during brunch at a plush hotel - well arranged, with some excellent musicianship and a sparse production that just keeps everything in the mix at the right level. Jonny is an accomplished, British-born sax player now living in the Netherlands who down the years has worked with plenty of key figures including John Dankworth, the Pasadena Roof Orchestra, Georgie Fame and even Eddie Izzard. Jonny is also a committed Christian. This is his third solo album whch consists mostly of Jonny's re-interpretations of a number of pieces from The Great American Songbook which is (according to Wikipedia) "a hypothetical construct that seeks to represent the best American songs of the 20th century principally from Broadway theatre, musical theatre and Hollywood musicals, from the 1920s to 1960" - or, more succinctly, it's a selection of "jazz standards" beloved by many musicians. Jonny makes a creditable, and most enjoyable, stab at all of the tracks on this album - including favourites such as "Dancing Cheek To Cheek", "The Girl From Ipanema", "The Way You Look Tonight" and "That's Life" - the first four tracks on the disk and highlights in a very strong field. Jonny offers a variety of interpretations, turning some tracks into noticeably uptempo versions and all the way through there's some lovely clear guitar work, fancy keyboard layers and of course some exceptional sax. There's also a surprise in the form of Jonny's own version of the Beatles' "Across The Universe" which is arranged very nicely. The only drawback with this whole collection is Jonny's singing which sometimes seems a little lightweight to carry the tunes, and even once or twice seems strained. But with such fine instrumental ensemble work there is still much to enjoy here.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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