That Old Feeling

Bob McCarroll

Bob McCarroll's CD, That Old Feeling, is a collection of jazz standards that he's rearranged and recorded. His style is quite lounge-like, and as I listened I imagined myself in the lobby of a hotel, on holiday and pretending to be rich.

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Clarke Rigsby and Kyle Harris of Tempest studios in Arizona have done a great job of capturing the band, and the result is phenomenally natural and unobtrusive. Bob's vocal, in particular, sounds syrupy-smooth and warm, and I'd bet that one or more of Tempest's impressive array of ribbon mics was used during these sessions.

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It's clearly a record made by highly experienced musicians who've honed their craft playing in bands over many a year. Jerry Donato's tenor sax, in particular, is great to listen to, but I feel bad picking someone out of a band that gels so well.

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I wouldn't usually spontaneously choose to listen to this kind of music and, like many of my generation, I tend to turn to the 'usual suspects' when I want some jazz. Still, this is an undeniably enjoyable listen, if more than a little soporific due to the warmth and pace of the particular collection of tracks.

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J G Harding - Sound on Sound Magazine

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Link to Article: Sound on Sound Magazine, November 2011

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Now & Then

Bob McCarroll

Bob McCarroll's album is the dream ticket for anyone running a restaurant in a well-populated tourist area. His swing jazz sound is literally so 'nice' I don't think it could rock the boat any more than a mouse might if it were stowed away on the QE2. While the tracks are perfectly well recorded, and Bob's vocals emulate the very best of Bublé-style swing jazz vocals, there just isn't the energy that I'd like to hear in an album like this to take it to the next level. At times, I felt as if it had been recorded so quietly that at any moment you might hear the producer turning the page of a newspaper as he waited for the session to end.

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Overall, the best moments on the record are when Bob puts the standards to one side and sings his own tracks, as it's here that you feel a different level of enthusiasm in the performance. Maybe this is because he actually feels a sense of achievement when he sings them, who knows? Either way, I really hope the next album has even more of his own music, as I would hate to see him stuck in the lift-music rut that this genre of music so often falls into.

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Sarah Bowden - Sound on Sound Magazine

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Link to Article: Sound on Sound Magazine, June 2012