Past Vocal Standards Take it On the Chin (again)

Since I experienced the better part of my life during the twentieth century, I have enjoyed “first contact” experiences of popular and jazz compositions that are now recognized as “standards.” There now seems to be a generous interest in this repertoire as this new century progresses. Unfortunately, today’s vocalists do not seem to “get” the many “delivery” techniques that transformed often relatively simply lyrics into engaging listening experiences.

Regular readers probably know that this is not the first time I have vented my frustration. About half a year ago, I was so put off by Rhada Thomas’ As I Sing album that I found that my only basis for comparison was Darlene Edwards. (Given that Edwards was an icon of the last century, I figured it was necessary to provide a hyperlink to her Wikipedia page in order for readers to appreciate the depth of my aggravation!)

Cover of the album being discussed (from its Amazon.com Web page)

This morning I found myself listening to the recently released album Alright Okay You Win album of fourteen tracks of songs delivered by Doug Ferony. He is accompanied by a sixteen-piece big band and three background singers. He also conducts the entire ensemble in performances of standards that account for a rather generous span of the twentieth century. This amounts to my having encountered all of these tunes in the past but during different periods in my life.

Now, to be fair, any tune, no matter how popular the “original version” may have been in the past, is always “fair game” for reinterpretation. However, there is a difference between an inventive reconception and (to borrow a favorite phrase from John Cage) “cheap imitation.” Drawing upon that latter metaphor, I have to confess that none of the tracks on Alright Okay You Win delivered enough of an interpretation to seize, let also sustain, my attention.

Is this just a matter of the past now being too distant? Given that Ferony’s selections include Hoagy Carmichael, George Gershwin, and Cole Porter, I do not think that age is the issue. (We do not accuse Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig van Beethoven as being “too distant!”) Rather, I think that Ferony never really figured out how to connect with the past, assuming, instead, that just delivering words and music would be sufficient. If that were all that mattered, then my guess is that there is already a software app that can deliver more engaging accounts than Ferony’s!