His seamless vocal phrasing and soulful expression seem made for jazz singing. Stigers started his professional career playing tenor sax in local blues bands. No wonder he sounds, at times, like Ray Charles. And yet, Curtis Stigers made his first claim to fame ten years ago, singing soft pop and watching his hits climb the charts. This mainstream jazz album places a different emphasis on his singing and introduces his tenor saxophone sound to a wider audience.
Stingers is quite at ease with lyrics as well as scat singing.
As Neil Tesser points out in the album's thoroughgoing liner notes, Stigers has inherited characteristics of most of the widely known male jazz singers. His natural affinity for jazz singing, however, has produced an album that's sure to please those of us who consistently lament that there just aren't enough good male singers around any more. Bill Stewart, Adam Nussbaum- drums. All About Jazz and contributing writers. All rights reserved.