Album Review: Wonderful World from Chris Standring

Album:  Wonderful World
Artist:  Chris Standring
Label:  Lateralize Records
Website:  http://www.chrisstandring.com

Guitarist and improviser Chris Standring performs with a 19 piece orchestra on his 14th release as a leader, Wonderful World.  He puts his own unique spin on songs from the Great American Songbook as he reimagines an assortment of jazz standards, setting the listener at ease track after track.  His articulation of the verses beckons the listener to savor each musicians input, enticing one to be absorbed by the warm climate Standring creates with his guitar riffs.

His treatment of Cole Porter's staple "Night and Day" highlights the ruminating mood of the track, transitioning into the soft billowy phrasing of "Autumn in New York," composed by Vernon Duke.  Vocalist Kathrin Shorr's performance on "What a Wonderful World" is spellbinding as her vocals caress the lyrics with warm, feminine tenderness.  The low-lit simmer in her timbres has the magnetism of a siren's call.

Standring's interpretation of "Alfie" brings out the sensitive vibrations of a lover's serenade, moving with the gentle sweep of a breeze brushing across a lazy current. The music allows audiences to be alone with their thoughts, coaxing their minds to drift in a wayfaring manner.  Standring transports the listener into alluring escapes that waft of dreamy getaways.  The massaging touch of the chord patterns cradling "Falling in Love with Love," penned by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, offers listeners a splendid respite that absorbs them entirely.

Blues, soul, swing, ambient, and cool jazz come together on Standring's recording.  His astuteness to seek lush orchestrations that would be nostalgic and possess a contemporary sensibility is evident.

A native of England, Standring was born and raised on a farm in the rural countryside of Buckinghamshire, where he spent his childhood driving tractors and feeding sheep.  He began studying classical guitar at the age of 6, though he did not become a serious jazz musician until he attended the London College of Music, where he met many aspiring jazz musicians.  Many of whom were members of the National Youth Jazz Orchestra and hard-core, straight-ahead aficionados.   From then on, his world opened up to the numerous colors of the jazz spectrum.