The Way I am

“Some of the arrangements are fairly traditional but on others we tried to mix things up a little and put the tunes into contexts which people might not expect,” says Mark.

Day In Day Out acquires an unusual down beat vibe with Jeremy Brown’s bass groove played on a pedal for much of the tune. Elsewhere, the opening of The Surrey With The Fringe On Top has an almost elegiac quality and It’s Only A Paper Moon (played in 5/4) sounds much darker than usual.

Even the more straight-ahead arrangements receive some unusual touches such as the Anita Wardell-penned shout chorus on I’ll Take Romance and unusual song choices – Randy Newman’s I Don’t Want To Hear It Anymore and Willie Dixon’s Little Red Rooster – sit surprisingly well alongside the more conventional jazz singer’s repertoire.

Track List

  1. Day In Day Out (Rube Bloom/Johnny Mercer)
  2. I’ll Take Romance (Ben Oakland/Oscar Hammerstein)
  3. Too Marvellous For Words (Richard Whiting/Johnny Mercer)
  4. You Go To My Head (J. Fred Coots/Haven Gillespie)
  5. It’s Only A Paper Moon (Harold Arlen/Billy Rose/ E.Y. Harburg)
  6. Day Dream (Billy Strayhorn/Duke Ellington/John La Touche)
  7. Easy To Love (Cole Porter)
  8. I’m All Smiles (Michael Leonard/Herbert Martin)
  9. The Surrey With The Fringe On Top (Richard Rodgers/Oscar Hammerstein)
  10. The Song Is You (Jerome Kern/Oscar Hammerstein)
  11. When In Rome / You Fascinate Me So (Cy Coleman/Carolyn Leigh)
  12. I Don’t Want To Hear It Anymore (Randy Newman)
  13. Little Red Rooster (Willie Dixon)

Credits

Mark Jennett (vocals)

Tracks 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10 – Robin Aspland (piano), Jeremy Brown (bass), Steve Brown (drums)

Tracks 1, 5, 8, 11, 12, 13 – Barry Green (piano), Jeremy Brown (bass), Tristan Mailliot (drums)

All arrangements by Mark Jennett, Anita Wardell and the band, except It’s Only A Paper Moon by Rob Barron. Shout chorus on I’ll Take Romance by Anita Wardell.

Recorded at Red Gables Studios. Recorded, mixed and mastered by Dick Hammett.

Produced by Anita Wardell