I had never heard of Anthony Strong and accordingly turned to his liner notes. He is modest to a fault, spending the entire wordage thanking everyone from the musicians to the gopher who ensured a constant supply of sandwiches and smoothies.
In search of some biography I looked online and found he was born in Croydon some 37 years ago. Six previous albums are listed. He attended the Purcell school, the Royal Academy and the Guildhall School of Music.
I can’t fault his piano playing and he can carry a tune. Style-wise, his vocals sound at one moment like the love-child of Etta James and Ray Charles and then, within the space of four bars, like a heavily sedated Spike Milligan. If you’ve ever wondered how a rapper might approach the Great American Songbook, here might be the answer.
I like his choice of material – of 15 selections, four are original, with 11 written well over a half century ago. I’m content to bask amongst the thousands of hours by those who might have inspired this record – Sinatra, Cole, Tormé, Como, Martin etcetera – but for every saddo like me there may well be a hundred who find lots to admire in newer interpretations of the old repertoire.
Discography
Skylark; Maria; Do It The Hard Way; Lucky To Be Me; When You Wish Upon A Star; Look For The Silver Lining; I’m Beginning To See The Light; Comes Love; Celeste; Minute By Minute; Don’t Dream It’s Over; Any Old Place; Straighten Up And Fly Right; Yesterday; Nature Boy (52.48)
Strong (v, p); Nick Fitch (g); Spencer Brown (b); Andy Ball, Joel Barford, Louie Palmer (d); Cosimo Keita, Andy Ball (pc); Brandon Allen (ts); Charlotte Silver (flh); Jonathan Hill, Marianne Haynes, Marciana Buta (vn); Helen Sanders-Hewitt, Cressida Wislocki (vla); Kirsten Jensen, Steffan Reed (clo); Sabrina Cheref; Dasha Logan (backing v). Livingston Studios, London, date unknown.
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