Album Review: Sway from Patrick Barnitt
Album: Sway
Artist: Patrick Barnett
Label: Self-Released
Website: www.patrickbarnitt.com
Sway, the new full length recording from vocalist Patrick Barnitt celebrates swing music with tunes from the Great American Songbook and classic pop/rock archives. Supported by the Paul McDonald Big Band, Barnitt not only brings back memories of the swing era from the 1950's and '60s but he takes swing music into the 21st century.
Ballads like "The Truth" and "Quando Quando Quando" are canvassed in glistening keys that produce a romantic coloring. Both tracks feature Laura Pursell on harmony vocals whose warm timbres imbue the songs with a feminine lilt. The shooting horns in "The Truth" garnish the tune in fiery trimmings splayed along elegant swells. The silky strings lining "Quando Quando Quando" are contoured by rolls of breathy guitar silhouettes that frame Pursell and Barnitt's vocals snugly.
The record features an original composition, "ACL Blues," co-written with McDonald, who is also a producer on the record. A coalescence of rockabilly and jazz, ringlets of blaring horns sprout intermittently as the slide of the guitar strings inject a sizzle and smolder into the chord progressions that complement the jive kicks set into the rhythmic beats. The bubbly pumping carrying "The More I See You" turns into a cocktail-style swing through "Please Be Kind." A Latin soul emanates in "Sway" as the sassy rumba shimmies of the instrumentation imbues the track with a flirtatious-bent.
The heavenly strings enshrining "I've Got You Under My Skin" create a serene ambience. Barnitt's treatment of the lyrics is unique as he grabs onto the ending syllables of select words and holds onto the note, making listeners feel like he is holding onto them and reluctant to let them go. He puts a jazz crackle on classic pop/rock hits like "Touch Me" and "Does Anyone Really Know What Time It Is," giving each a new melodic vision. His re-imaginings also include the disco-tinged fare piping "Cascade" and the country jazz landscaping of "Won't You Come Home Bill Bailey." The country tone in the instruments of the latter are ribbed by a hopping jazz groove as blaring horns join in the jubilee.
Crackle, sizzle, swing, pulsate, and bemoan, Barnitt's tunes portray a variety of moods canvassed in jazz-infused expressions. Possessing a likeness to the great crooners of the mid-20th century including Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, and Andy Williams, Patrick Barnitt is one of those great American singers that appeal to everyone regardless of man-made barriers.
Musicians:
Patrick Barnitt - vocals
Laura Pursell - harmony vocals
Bijon Watson - trumpet
Rusty Higgins - saxophonist
Everette Harp - saxophonist
Celso Alberti - drums
Artist: Patrick Barnett
Label: Self-Released
Website: www.patrickbarnitt.com
Sway, the new full length recording from vocalist Patrick Barnitt celebrates swing music with tunes from the Great American Songbook and classic pop/rock archives. Supported by the Paul McDonald Big Band, Barnitt not only brings back memories of the swing era from the 1950's and '60s but he takes swing music into the 21st century.
The record features an original composition, "ACL Blues," co-written with McDonald, who is also a producer on the record. A coalescence of rockabilly and jazz, ringlets of blaring horns sprout intermittently as the slide of the guitar strings inject a sizzle and smolder into the chord progressions that complement the jive kicks set into the rhythmic beats. The bubbly pumping carrying "The More I See You" turns into a cocktail-style swing through "Please Be Kind." A Latin soul emanates in "Sway" as the sassy rumba shimmies of the instrumentation imbues the track with a flirtatious-bent.
The heavenly strings enshrining "I've Got You Under My Skin" create a serene ambience. Barnitt's treatment of the lyrics is unique as he grabs onto the ending syllables of select words and holds onto the note, making listeners feel like he is holding onto them and reluctant to let them go. He puts a jazz crackle on classic pop/rock hits like "Touch Me" and "Does Anyone Really Know What Time It Is," giving each a new melodic vision. His re-imaginings also include the disco-tinged fare piping "Cascade" and the country jazz landscaping of "Won't You Come Home Bill Bailey." The country tone in the instruments of the latter are ribbed by a hopping jazz groove as blaring horns join in the jubilee.
Crackle, sizzle, swing, pulsate, and bemoan, Barnitt's tunes portray a variety of moods canvassed in jazz-infused expressions. Possessing a likeness to the great crooners of the mid-20th century including Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, and Andy Williams, Patrick Barnitt is one of those great American singers that appeal to everyone regardless of man-made barriers.
Musicians:
Patrick Barnitt - vocals
Laura Pursell - harmony vocals
Bijon Watson - trumpet
Rusty Higgins - saxophonist
Everette Harp - saxophonist
Celso Alberti - drums
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