Few would have expected the guy who founded the dB's to be the benevolent protector of mid-century vocal pop and jazz in the 21st century. And yet Chris Stamey's 2019 release New Songs for the 20th Century was a marvelous surprise, a loving and accurate homage to another era that was heartfelt and beautifully crafted without a touch of kitsch. As it happens, Stamey had more where that came from, and 2020's A Brand-New Shade of Blue, credited to Chris Stamey & the Fellow Travelers, is a project with a similar aim and a distinct feel of its own. New Songs for the 20th Century was modeled on the mature sounds of vocal pop, show tunes, and standards of the '40s and '50s. A Brand-New Shade of Blue, while modeled on music of a similar time and thematic sensibility, is focused on jazz, in particular the slightly bluesy tone of a small combo playing beautifully sad songs of wilted love ideal for listening at 2 a.m. The players are aiming for something more artful and sophisticated than cocktail lounge sounds of the era, and they succeed; the sax work by Will Campbell and Elijah Freeman evokes John Coltrane while stopping short of plagiarism, "Cerulean Is Lovely" nods to the early days of New Thing in its exploratory soloing and splashy drumming, and the gentle Latin accents of "I Don't Think of You" are accessible without dulling the genuine sophistication of the song and the performances. The ensemble playing is uniformly excellent and impressively thoughtful, while vocalists Brett Harris (who sings most of the tunes), Ramunė Martin, and Django Haskins (who sing one number each) perform with passion and nuance, giving the lyrics the sincere reading they deserve without allowing them to seem silly and overwrought. Stamey lets his power pop sensibilities make their presence known on the final two tracks, "Speechless" and "Dangling Cheek to Cheek," with sharper melodies and more obvious wit in the lyrics, but they still honor the pre-rock & roll vibe of the rest of the set, and if you were to say this is a sterling example of the kind of record they don't make anymore, you would not be wrong. A Brand-New Shade of Blue sounds like the sort of album Chris Stamey heard his parents playing on the living room hi-fi when he was young, with the footnote that his folks had excellent taste; it's music with a vintage feel and a level of craft and imagination that's delightfully timeless.
© Mark Deming /TiVo