Cover of the album being discussed (from the Jazz Hang Records Web site)
Jazz Hang Records recently produced an album entitled Bob Anderson LIVE!, a sixteen-track compilation of live performances by the vocalist in New York City, Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, Hollywood, and Boston. All sixteen tracks are currently available for download from an Amazon.com Web page. The CD is scheduled for release this coming Friday, at which time the Web page will be updated with an appropriate hyperlink.
With the exception of Anderson’s own opening track, “So Much Music in Me,” the album is a time machine that transports the listener through fifteen iconic songs from the twentieth century. Having lived in a little more than half of that, almost all of those songs were familiar to me as I listened to the album. Where the ones that were not familiar were concerned, the style still rang true.
Anderson’s delivery, however, is another matter. There is never any faulting in his diction. However, his approach to expression tends to come across as tedious. It is almost as if he is trying to prompt memories from a sympathetic audience without endowing those memories with any signification. Put another way, this is the sort of performance one might expect at a night club where familiar music is expected and appreciated, as long as it does not interfere with the food, the drinks, and the conversation. Take away the setting, and there is little motivation to focus attention on the recording.
Perhaps Anderson leaves a stronger impression when one is in his presence.
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