Frank Wagner, Zack Foley, and C.J. Everett (courtesy of Orange Grove Publicity)
It was through Orange Grove Publicity that I first learned about vocalist Zack Foley. This past Friday saw the release of his Silent Boomer X album, which is currently available for MP3 download through an Amazon.com Web page. On this album he leads a trio with rhythm provided by Frank Wagner on bass and drummer C.J. [sic] Everett.
I suppose that this album can best be described through a single sentence from the advance material I received:
On Silent Boomer X, Foley goes all-in on standard repertoire but in a non-standard way, departing from the conventional “crooner” sound and letting his tenor voice play a role traditionally filled by the saxophone.
What this sentence overlooks is that in “departing” from the “conventional,” Foley has also departed from any sense of pitch. For better or worse (mostly the latter), when he takes on familiar tunes by Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, and Cole Porter, he seems to assume that, due to that familiarity, listeners will not care what notes he happens to be singing, paying more attention to his rhythm of declamation. Well, for what it is worth, I happen to be one of those listeners that does care. Those in my camp should be careful about how much attention they pay to Foley’s vocal work!
Those that have followed my efforts back to my days with Examiner.com will not be surprised by this assessment. Back in 2014 I encountered an album by Carol Fredette entitled No Sad Songs For Me. While the content was true to the title, my account of the vocal work could be distilled as follows:
… Fredette never really comes up with a delivery that both shapes the melody and does justice to the words.
Apparently, things have not changed very much over the last decade!
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