Craig Schumacher – New
Shoes (CD)
Sound: B Music:
B-
A mixed assortment of original Jazz vocal songs from
singer, producer and writer Craig Schumacher make up his new album New Shoes
(2005), though they are in the mode of early 20th Century vocal Jazz,
they are al new songs. This is not a
recreation of an era of Jazz, but an attempt to bring the old style of speech
and vocal to the current era. The
results are mixed. Tracks include:
1) Don’t
Know A Thing About Love
2) Volume
Goes Up When The Whiskey Goes Down
3) Holy
Balcony
4) From The
Other Side
5) Wondering
Why
6) The
Right Thing
7) Can’t
Remember To Forget You
8) New
Shoes
Though he can sing and has some good writing skills, the
album just does not gel, with some songs being very disappointing. Also, tracks like #2 do not seem to know if
they are Jazz or Blues in a way that sound confused in some odd way. This is his first studio album and though it
shows a love of its subject, that love lacks focus. Other Jazz fans may enjoy how it is all over the place, though.
The PCM 2.0 16Bit/44.1kHz Stereo is not bad, though there
seems to be some kind of ceiling there, yet not enough of one to hold back the
sound totally. This is one you may just
have to hear for yourself.
- Nicholas Sheffo
