Giacomo Gates - Everything Is Cool (2015) [Official Digital Download]

Giacomo Gates approaches jazz singing with a showman's poise and an aficionado's zeal. With his deep, cognac baritone and his vintage-hipster lexicon, his phrasing and his bearing, he upholds a distinctly masculine ideal of deceptively easy nonchalance. Gates is known as the modern day heir to Eddie Jefferson, the godfather of vocalese. Here he uses the style sparingly, but to great advantage, never showboating by using the challenging technique. Gates' considerable chops are always at the service of the song. Backed by his go-to pianist, John di Martino and guitarist Tony Lombardozzi leading the rhythm section and Grant Stewart out in front on saxophone, Giacomo sings and swings his way through a dozen tunes - some familiar favorites, some rarely heard gems. He may be soft and subtle or he may be hip and humorous but one thing "Giacomo Gates" is not, is predictable.

A latecomer to jazz as a vocation, Giacomo Gates cut his first album 20 years ago at age 45 and has since recorded just six more as a leader. But what he lacks in quantity he’s more than made up for in quality. A fervent acolyte of bebop, scat and vocalese masters, Gates has dotted his albums with tributes to such heroes. Everything Is Cool marks his deepest dive into their collective songbooks, including selections by such seminal figures as Babs Gonzales, Oscar Brown Jr., Jon Hendricks and Frank Rosolino, with Brubeck and Monk added for good measure. As he enters his mid-60s, Gates’ phrasing has grown a little looser, his range narrower. Still, he remains one of the finest interpreters around, fully on par with Mark Murphy and Kurt Elling. Oddly, given the album’s focus on intrepid vocal adventurers, Gates plays it straighter than usual, adding only the occasional scat chorus and just one meaty vocalese, stretching the center of Monk’s “Well, You Needn’t.” Gonzales is provided the most attention, Gates covering three of his tunes, including the breezy, Jimmy Van Heusen-worthy title track. Rosolino’s “Please Don’t Bug Me” is a vengeful delight, while Timmie Rogers’ bluesy “If I Were You, Baby, I’d Love Me” (written for Nat Cole) recalls the laidback sophistication of Matt Dennis. Most curious (and perhaps coolest of this ice-cool set) is “All Alone,” a bitter slice of beat-poetry payback written by comic legend Lenny Bruce in 1958, after his wife left him.

Tracklist:

01 - Everything Is Cool
02 - If I Were You, Baby, I'd Love Me
03 - When Lovers They Lose
04 - Social Call
05 - Hazel's Hips
06 - Almost Blue
07 - Take Five
08 - Who Threw The Glue
09 - Here Today Gone Tomorrow
10 - Please Don't Bug Me
11 - All Alone
12 - Well You Needn't (It's Over Now)

Produced by Mark Ruffin and Giacomo Gates.
Recorded on March 21,2015 Trading 8s Music, Paramus, NJ.
Engineered, Mixed & Edited by Chris Sulit.
Mastered by Kevin Blackler.

Musicians:
Giacomo Gates - vocals
Grant Stewart - saxophone
John Di Martino - piano
Tony Lombardozzi - guitar
Ed Howard - bass
Willard Dyson - drums


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