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| Eddie Skuller's Tribute to jazz legend Jimmy Scott  It is the crooner's art to give epic voice to intimate sorrow, but who speaks for the singer? On his "Essential 2" collection, vocalist Eddie Skuller sends a valentine to an often-unsung jazz great, Jimmy Scott. Skuller's dramatic delivery strikes a key with all generations, and he draws from the famous hits and out-of-the-way favorites of each, with a classic yet hip lonelyheart lounge that points a new direction for the jazz-club canon while nodding to a lineage both lauded and overlooked.Bridging both categories is Jimmy Scott, the ethereal vocalist whose incomparable, ghostly takes on standards and daring variations on familiar hits of all genres have made him a legend abroad and a cult favorite in America. Scott's haunting style connects with kindred lost souls, and on Skuller's new album he carries on this community of outsiders tradition with an homage to songs made indelible by Scott. "Eddie Skuller's voice hovers somewhere between the ionosphere and the microphone, revealing an obvious affinity with Jimmy Scott, not only in vocal timbre, but in how he conects with each individual tune" said All About Jazz. The songs range outward from the starkly beautiful aural landscapes of ingenious pianist Ethan Herr to the warm vistas of a suave trio taking in everything from a sprightly "When Did You Leave Heaven", a searing "Lilac Wine" and a sublime "You Dont Know What Love Is" along the trip. Through it all Skuller's supple voice knows just where to turn and take the listener, be it dark alleys of regret or dizzy heights of redemption. "It's evident to the listener that Skuller owes a great deal to Scott. But the important point is that Skuller's voice can capture the listener's attention on its own merits, even as he pays tribute" said jazzreview.com. The collection includes Skuller's soulful version of the Jimmy Scott hit "Everybody's Somebody's Fool" (a previously unreleased track recorded live at the Metropolitan Room in NYC). With a love song to a giant of jazz's fertile fringe from an emerging force on the forms cutting edge, Eddie Skuller is nobodys fool. The six song EP is available at iTunes. write your comments about the article :: © 2008 Jazz News :: home page |