| Swing - Suzy Bogguss | |
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Reviewed by Matt Bjorke
From the late 1980's through the mid 1990's Suzy Bogguss was a consistent hit maker on the country charts with songs like "I Wanna Be A Cowboy's Sweetheart," "Drive South" and "Hey Cinderella." However, after taking some time off to have her first (and only child) Suzy never achieved another hit and left her label Capitol Records for the independent label Platinum. When the CD she recorded for Platinum wasn't a hit, Suzy stepped back and analyzed her career and decided she would record a "dream" project.
Swing is that dream project and what a collection of songs it is. It isn't a traditional country album, as the CD title suggests, but an appealing mix of swing and jazz songs with some western swing thrown in for good measure. Ray Benson of Asleep At The Wheel co-produced the CD with Suzy and the CD features a couple of traditional Jazz/swing pieces from artists like Nat King Cole and Duke Ellington while also containing mostly new stuff, five songs are written by Nashville based artist April Barrows.
Leading off the CD is a delightful rendition of Nat King Cole's "Straighten Up And Fly Right." Suzy's husky voice fits the Vocal Jazz genre quite well. This song has always been a favorite of mine since I was a child and the lyrics about taking advice with a grain of salt are still relevant today, even decades after the classic track was written.
"Comes Love" is another older track which Billie Holliday made popular. Suzy does some "scat" singing (a style of jazz vocals) which makes this sultry jazz number stand out from the pack. Recording standards like this one is typically hard for any artist to do but Suzy creates a tasty piece of jazzy western swing thanks to the playing of current and former members of the group Asleep At The Wheel.
"Jumping Into Spring" is one of the newer songs (one of the five written by April Barrows). The production and instrumentation originally had me thinking this was a long lost jazz track and Suzy once again sounds really good. The jazzy arrangements are very smooth and relaxing just like spring days are.
"Burning The Toast" is a humorous song about a newlywed couple. "The Coffee's Weak, but my love's strong, it's got to last the whole day long, 'til tomorrow morning when the sun comes shining' though and I'll start all over burring the toast for you," says the song which paints the perfect picture of a new couple. The arrangement of the music reminds me of the stuff you'd see in old movies and the nostalgic feel to the song makes me feel that the writer April Barrows is a gifted songwriter.
Suzy wrote "It's Always New To Me" with her husband Doug Crider and band member Paul Kramer (who wrote 2 other cuts on this CD). It's a song that sounds like it comes straight out of a smoky jazz lounge with Suzy leading a trio of players. The song talks about the way a woman feels about being in love with her special guy; "Every time I Look at you, it's always new to me."
The fast paced "Cupid Shot Us Both With One Arrow" is a duet with Ray Benson and is the first single released to radio. It's a playful song that finds both Suzy and Ray in fine form. Ray is the current king of western swing music and has a wonderful jazzy sound here.
While some country music fans won't get Suzy's new direction with music, her biggest fans will welcome these songs with open arms (she's always done one or two jazzy songs per concert). This isn't a one-off effort for Suzy. From the sound of this album, I can see Suzy having a long career as a jazz chanteuse. I hope some Jazz; college and public radio stations give this record a few spins for it is definitely worth their time. If you are a fan of great music then you will thoroughly enjoy the fun sounds of Swing.
Song List:
Album cover used with permission of Loyal Dutchess Records and Compadre Records.
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