This two-fer assembles a pair of classic
Jack Jones sessions first issued on Kapp Records in the mid-'60s.
Where Love Has Gone beautifully distills the essence of
Jones as a consummate romantic stylist. A subtle, focused record that draws on jazz and pop elements but steadfastly avoids genre pigeonholing, it's first and foremost a collection of standards re-imagined in ways that stay true to their writers' intent yet reveal new gradations of meaning in their familiar lyrics. Collaborating with arrangers Pete King and Harry Betts,
Jones eschews drama and gimmicks, letting his heartfelt vocals speak for themselves -- he invests songs like "Here's That Rainy Day," "What's New," and "Lush Life" with the world-weary wisdom of one who's lived through the sadness and heartbreak their lyrics illuminate, creating music that is both intimate and universal at the same time. Although cobbled together from three years of sessions recorded in collaboration with arrangers
Marty Paich, Don Costa, and Glenn Osser,
My Kind of Town hangs together as a cohesive listening experience -- fittingly, the themes of movement and change that underscore songs like "King of the Road," "Travellin' On," and "Somewhere Along the Way" parallel
Jones' own creative journey, capturing the singer as he slowly but surely comes into his own as a consummate stylist. The rotating arrangers emphasize
Jones' range and scope -- by turns ebullient and melancholy, the songs are rendered with absolute purity of expression. ~ Jason Ankeny