Jeremy Monteiro on the cover of his new album (courtesy of Mouthpiece Music)
My last encounter with Singaporean jazz pianist Jeremy Monteiro took place almost exactly a year ago with the release of his Jazz-Blues Brothers duo album with organist Alberto Marisco. A few days ago I received word of his latest album. This one is entitled simply Sings; and, as may be guessed, this is his first vocal album (accompanying himself at the piano). I have not been able to find any distribution specifics, but the only Amazon.com Web page for the entire album is for MP3 download.
The good news is that Monteiro’s vocal work has a solid sense of both pitch and phrasing. Indeed, after listening to a few tracks, distant memories of Nat King Cole singing from his keyboard began to arise. Over the course of my writing about his albums, Monteiro has always been generous in citing his influences; but Cole was not among the vocalists cited in the few paragraphs of text distributed along with the tracks. For that matter, those few paragraphs do not provide an account at all of the instrumentalists that join Monteiro for accompaniment.
As an aside, it is worth noting that the Schwann catalog classified Cole as “Popular,” rather than “Jazz;” but Sings should definitely take its place beside Monteiro’s other jazz albums. Of course, all that really matters is the listening experience. While my personal preferences are instrumental, I have been more than merely satisfied to add this new release to my collection.
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