 |
1. But Beautiful  2. Moody's Mood for Love 3. The Touch of Your Lips 4. I Cover The Waterfront 5. Lush Life 6. You Are Too Beautiful 7. Solitude 8. Yesterday When I Was Young 9. I'm Always Drunk in San Francisco 10. Over The Rainbow |
|
| FREDDIE KING Diggin’ Deep Kandé Freddie King’s first album has taken a long time to materialise but the Edinburgh-based singer is now probably - and unfairly - better known as young songstress Niki King’s old man than as the owner of a distinctive dark-toned voice, and adventurous singing style. Joined by a band containing others among the Scottish jazz scene’s unsung players, including Jimmy Wood, King concentrates here on his ballad side. There’s still adventure - the solo vocal intro to You Are Too Beautiful for example - but this is King luxuriating in the depths of his vocal range, sounding intimate, sincere and conversational, with occasional nods to his hero, Mark Murphy in the phrasing. Daughter Niki joins dad for a dual-toned Over The Rainbow to close an album that’ll appeal to relaxing nighthawks especially. ROB ADAMS Herald, 24 Dec 2005 KING ON RECORD He's a class act, as is his daughter Nikki. Everybody in Edinburgh with an ear for quality vocals has been urging Freddie King to make an album and he's done it at last. Diggin' Deep is all ballads, all beauties and a credit to the man and the musicians involved, including, on tenor-sax Frank Perowski, a former MD for Liza Minnelli. Nikki comes in with her dad on the closing Over the Rainbow. [...] JOHN GIBSON Evening News, 30 Nov 2005 DIGGIN' DEEP Singer Freddie King has been around on the Edinburgh jazz scene for some time and [...] he has continued to develop his trademark style on material ranging from manic Fats Waller interpretations, with Brian Kellock, through to the smooth balladry that fills this disc of familiar standards. Freddie’s deep, dark voice and expressive but mannered delivery is supported by an excellent cast of musicians, and [his daughter] Niki joins him in a duet on Over the Rainbow. KENNY MATHIESON The Scotsman, 09 Dec 2005 |
KING PLAYS THE ACE WITH NEW CD RELEASE Vocalist Freddie King is an innovator, rather than an imitator. He is a musician’s singer. Someone who can bend the bars with accomplished ease. A man whose timing is impeccable. A jazzman through and through. [...] But while Freddie has a reputation for being somewhat off-the-wall, this new CD shows another side of the singer. There is no scat singing, no boplicity and none of the vocal mayhem for which he is so well known. In essence, you get ten timeless ballads to which he brings his quintessentially rich timbre, astonishing range and masterly control. This is a very different King - a sensitive and vulnerable King. And he has chosen his sidemen with care. Pianist Paul Harrison, for instance, who is one of the jazz giants in this city, gives a quite understated performance; and it is what he doesn’t do that makes it all work. Likewise, the emotive playing of Lachlan McColl on guitar and Jimmy Wood on alto sax, brings real lyrical quality to this album. You will also hear the great New York tenorman Frank Perowsky, flautist Dave Heath, plus some of the finest brushwork in the business from drummer Dave Swanson. To have all of these superb musicians on one disc would be a record producer’s dream, but when you add the voice of Freddie King, you’ve got yourself a winner. Numbers include: Lush Life, Solitude, and Over the Rainbow. However, Freddie’s rendering of the poignant Jimmy van Heusen number But Beautiful is precisely that. He doesn’t just sing the lyrics, you feel that he actually believes every word. He puts his soul into each line; and he does exactly what it says on the sleeve. If there is any justice in this world, the album should position King firmly on the international stage. And not a moment before time. PAT QUINN |
|
|
| Copyright © 2004-8 Freddie King. All rights reserved. |