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Written
by Frank McClure, posted by blog admin
The
passion Gregg Stewart brings to his second solo release, a fourteen song album
of cover tracks entitled Twenty Sixteen, doesn’t differ at all from the fire
lighting up his own compositions. The title alludes to the overarching theme
behind this collection – Stewart selects his tracks from artists and
songwriters who died during 2016 and will undoubtedly please many of their
admirers thanks to his often outside the box picks. Stewart doesn’t attempt to
ape the sonics heard in any of the originals and, instead, recasts everything with
a minimalist, often acoustic slant that can embody great delicacy and
surprising power, sometimes within the same song. His voice proves more than
adequate for tackling the wide variety of moods spanning the fourteen song
running order. While there is some merit to saying fourteen songs is exhaustive
and the album runs too long, there’s no question that it remains consistent throughout
and there’s not a single reinterpretation listeners can consider a total miss.
“You
Spin Me Round” might seem an improbable candidate for a song Stewart might
cover, but he dispenses with the electronic driven musical theatrics of the
original, along with Pete Burns’ hypnotic drone on the chorus, and instead
serves up something more understated and sultry. He’s much more in his own
customary territory adapting the traditionally minded, albeit gussied up for
its era, songwriting for singer and former Wham! Member George Michael’s “A
Different Corner”. It is closer to straight ahead singer/songwriter material in
Stewart’s hand and has a bright lilt from the acoustic guitars that pairs up
nicely with the piano. Stewart’s singing is especially relaxed, with a loose kind
of Caribbean confidence emanating from his voice that’s quite different from
what we hear in the opener. His voice shows us another face with the cover of
Prince’s “Raspberry Beret” and the same acoustic style template defining the
earlier songs remains in effect here with Stewart ‘s arrangement of the song
retaining its all important melodic hook while stripping everything else to the
barest of essentials. It still retains its pop appeal, though, that still comes
through. He takes on another seemingly unlikely cover with a take on Maurice
White’s “Sing a Song”, but Stewart sounds remarkably at ease with the Earth, Wind,
and Fire legend’s soul and R&B laced songwriting. There’s no question that
Stewart brings considerable chops to everything he touches, but they are never
showy and this song is no exception.
“One
More Love Song”, written by Leon Russell, does capture the Americana rock vibe
of The Band that Gregg Stewart describes himself aiming for in the notes for
this song and it thankfully never comes at risk of obvious imitation. One of
the odder but ultimately more successful choices for this collection is a song
associated with actor Gene Wilder from his role in Willy Wonka and the
Chocolate Factory, “Pure Imagination”, that Stewart carries off without a hint
of irony or comedic intent. It’s quite a loving performance. Twenty Sixteen is
a powerful album that may run a little long, but it burns with a genuine joy
for music that will garner Gregg Stewart even more fans than he already has.
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