Search - Jay Mcshann :: Just A Lucky So And So

Everybody's lucky to have Jay McShann around

Bomojaz | South Central PA, USA | 10/18/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is Jay McShann recording with a good group of Canadian musicians in Toronto, especially the very fine Jim Galloway on soprano and baritone saxes. Galloway's soprano playing (he plays baritone on only two tracks, soprano the rest) is very lyrical, and since most of the tunes are taken in slow tempo, that lyricism is brought to the forefront.



Jay sings on about half the tunes, in his inimitable quavering voice, which doesn't work so well on the very slow, flat-out ballads (ON A CLEAR DAY and ONCE UPON A TIME). His singing is much better on the blues-inflected tunes like LAZY RIVER. The best track is the title tune: both musicians wring as much emotion from it as you could expect. BASIN STREET BLUES gets an excellent treatment as well.



Except for those couple of not-so-hot ballad performances, this is a solid outing for McShann, Galloway, and group."