An album release from Russ Lorenson has no problem bringing back that classic crooner style and approach with an outstanding performance that delivers impactful and memorable energy and these big band undertones and jazz textures that all come together so smoothly that it all feels surreal in a way.
The Standard Time: Live in New York album hits with a color and gusto that's undeniable and the deeper into the record you go the less you can believe it's actually live because everything is done so flawlessly and with so much love for the art and genre that you're taking back by it all.
One of the things I adore about this record is the sheer fact that it's got some covers of songs that are so outside that crooner genre that when you hear these versions, you're astounded at how well they actually work being performed in this style.
I think this has a lot to do with the heart that went into this record and how it was something that just had to happen like a giant passion project of sorts, and there are a lot of surprises around the corners of the record, but you're left with that sense of nostalgia when it's over.
The whole approach is a love letter to the greats like Sinatra and the rest of the Rat Pack for example and when I think about it causes memories to pop up in my head and this happened a lot while listening to the record actually.
When I was growing up my parents, aunts, and uncles, would play a lot of this kind of stuff. Everything from big band to swing, Sinatra, even Classics like Ella Fitzgerald or Billie Holiday would be playing on vinyl or cassette tape throughout the living room on weekends and artists like Sinatra became a staple part of my Saturdays and Sundays growing up.
So, when I listened to this lush and amazingly performed album from Russ, it hit me a certain way because that whole aesthetic was completely nailed.
Now, back in the day of course those kinds of artists actually did record their live performances and the fact that Russ put out this record as a live one is absolutely perfect and even more of a beckoning to the old days and a love letter to the classics.
Of course, like I said, there are songs that you don't expect to hear these kinds of versions of but that feeling is still in place, and for me, it brings up such a heavy sense of nostalgia that I ended up listening to this record a few times.
This would have been an amazing record even if it wasn't live but the fact that it was performed live really just pins down that aesthetic and that approach perfectly which I'm sure was what he wanted in the first place.
Having said that, the instrumentation is amazing, and you have a lot of the key sounds that you expect from the genre along with those jazzy undertones as I mentioned before, and you can feel that energy between everyone on the stage feeding off of each other and that is part of what makes this record work so incredibly well.
If you are a fan of classic big band, swing, jazz, vintage real and genuine songwriting and performances like that then this record is 100% for you all the way through from beginning to end.
This is not the type of record you just listen to one or two songs. This is the type of record you listen to as a whole this way you can get the full experience and that's really what this is. This is more an experience than just an album.
In case you're wondering, yes, I've already sent the record to my aunts and uncles and I'm sure they've been listening to it.
Dive into this record when you get the time so that you can listen to the whole album because it's worth it.
This gets a 9 out of 10 hands down.