Bob Levy
Only a Matter of Time
(Silk River Music)
February 26, 2018
Reviewed by John Hoglund for Cabaret Scenes
Bob Levy is a 2019 MAC Award nominee for his songwriting and for this CD. This only adds to his mounting merits over the years. Some hip jazz songwriters add gusto and guts to their musical style using a mix of heart and wit in sync with something that is unique. Levy is a quirky lyricist who falls somewhere in a league with Bob Dorough and Blossom Dearie. He can also be a heartbreaker. Most of his songs are personalized and not script friendly. Sondheim he’s not.
Bob Levy is an old-fashioned type of guy. The new CD is the latest in a collection of interesting and eclectic songbook discs that resonate the flavor of a time when lyrics stood for more than what passes today on the jaded radio or on deafening Internet play lists. Some of the songs here are so good they might have been lifted from a movie soundtrack from long ago. As in the past, his songs are written with intelligence. The musical styles vary from light jazz to standard American Songbook fare from another decade.
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He has collaborated with some of today’s popular musicians.
Some of the songs are the kind that might appeal to Dick Hyman or Sinatra in their day. It all reflects Levy’s versatility as he joins with some lauded musician-songwriters of note including Tex Arnold, Alex Rybeck, Harriet Goldberg, and Ronny Whyte. The big arrangements are exceptional and prove an easy match for guest singers La Tanya Hall, Laurie Krauz, and Nicolas King. Frequent collaborator and acclaimed jazz vocalist Dane Vannatter is heard on many of the 19 cuts.
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Overall, the album is filled with too many pleasant surprises to list. Off the top, a smart “Crazy Dog” sung by Vannatter kicks off the disc with a cool spin that almost recalls Dave Frishberg: “when I got home, he sat on my lap and purred like a dog that thought he’s a cat…
crazy dog.” “Welcome Me Home” (Levy/Rybeck) is a dreamy take on romance. Beautifully sung by La Tanya Hall, it is a warm reflection that says all the right things about love: “could this be magic? Are you just a fantasy?… no, you feel so real to me – to welcome me home.” One can imagine Bobby Darin fronting a swinging big band on a breezy “Every Time When I’m with You” by Levy and Whyte with Vannatter’s seductive crooning. Multi-talented Nicolas King teases with a little sophisticated scat on a jazzy “Best as I Can” that echoes a young Mel Tormé in tone and quality. King also shines on a well-delivered “Looks Like They’re in Love” (also by Levy/Rybeck). “Why Can’t You Fall in Love with Me?
” (Levy) is a longing for love ballad sung by a smoky-voiced Laurie Krauz. “It’s Over” (Levy), a favorite of this listener, is a trenchant ballad, beautifully sung by Vannatter that is heartfelt and poignant and worthy of more attention as is most of this songbook.
For anyone putting a cabaret act together, there’s a lush garden of songs to choose from here from a quality songwriter with class and a focus on well-balanced songs with meaning. We’re lucky there are songwriters still among us simply writing from the heart with meaning, fun and skilled structure in a way the greats of yesteryear wrote. Bob Levy is such a lyricist. And, this album will show you why.
Levy is assisted by a strong band with excellent musicians: Piano: Tex Arnold, Daryl Kojak, Daniel May and Alex Rybeck; Bass: Tony De Paolis, Bob Renino, Steve La Spina and Steve Doyle; Drums: Thomas Wendt, John DiFiore and Dan Gross; Trumpet: Dave F. Rogers and Hollis “Bud” Burridge; Guitar: Brian Koonin and Sean Harkness; Cello: Clay Ruede.
