All Of Me – Album Review

 

Promising Beginning for Talented Young Vocalist 

Review by Tom Perreira, Massachusetts, U.S.A September 1, 2012

 

Teenage Australian vocalist Liam Burrows’ inaugural CD represents a highly promising beginning for someone who just should not be so skilled at such a young age. But he is!

Burrows weaves his way through 20 well known tunes from the great American songbook with a particular emphasis on songs associated with Frank Sinatra. He is backed by a solid big band which strongly anchors the overall effort.

Burrows’ strong phrasing and tone are on display throughout the recording. He easily gets into the groove on the swing arrangements showing a natural ability to shine in a big band setting. This is particularly evident on “All of Me”, “Give Me the Simple Life” and “Come Fly With Me”. Clearly, the straight ahead big band swing arrangements represent the dominant theme of the recording.

Still, Burrows shows an ability to shift settings and sing ballads in a sincere and delicate way. For example, on a beautiful rendition of “Skylark”, he sings for much of the tune opposite solo bass only. If you are not a skilled vocalist that type of setting will almost always expose your weaknesses as there is nothing to hide behind. However, Mr. Burrows not only survives in this setting, he succeeds admirably. Similarly, Burrows’ touching rendition of “Moonlight in Vermont” leaves no doubt as to his strength on interpreting ballads.

Burrows also displays his versatility as a pure jazz singer with an up-tempo version of “A Foggy Day” which features some skilful scat singing by the young vocalist. Adding Neal Hefti and Bobby Troup’s “Girl Talk”, popular among many jazz artists, was also a nice touch. It’s one of my favorite tunes and Burrows’ version is one of the best I have heard.

If you like Sinatra and similar contemporary artists like Harry Connick Jr. and Michael Bublé, I’m confident you will immensely enjoy this CD. Considering Liam Burrows is at such an advanced musical level while still only a teenager, I can only imagine how good he will to get over the coming years as he continues to mature as a vocalist.