When California-based singer Jack Wood discovered Australian jazz singer Nichaud Fitzgibbon he decided to show her talents to his own audience, and she sang on two songs on his last album. This time around we find them releasing an album together, but all is not quite as it seems as they duet on six songs and then there are five songs each from their own back catalogues. I can’t make out from the sleeve notes or press release whether those are new recordings or are already available, but if it is the latter then I will expect fans to be upset if they already have the earlier albums. I know I was somewhat annoyed at having to buy Tull’s ‘M.U. – The Best Of’ just to get the unreleased “Rainbow Blues”, but don’t know if this is the same or not.

This is swing from a time gone by, and while one is listening and relaxing to this it is nice to be able to read who is well-known for performing the song and what films it appeared in. Take “Quando, Quando, Quando”, which is one of the duets, it was made famous in film by Engelbert Humperdinck, and it is credited with being in 2018’s ‘Game Night’ and 2017’s ‘Training Day’. I hadn’t realised that “It Had To Be You” was in both “When Harry Met Sally” and “Casablanca”, but I do now. This is jazz for those who want it to be middle of the road mainstream, when nothing unexpected will happen and every note will logically follow the next in a highly organised and arranged sequence, whereas I prefer my jazz to be a little more avant garde and passionate. But while this is not for me, I can certainly understand why this will be enjoyed by many, as both singers have wonderful velvet voices, and the arrangements are delicate and designed to keep them to the fore.

Rating: 7/10

Links:
https://jackwoodmusic.com/
https://nichaudfitzgibbon.com/
https://jazzhangrecords.com/