Secret Heart
A brief look at the background of singer and saxophonist Curtis Stigers offers a fair explanation for his broad and resilient jazz pedigree. Growing up in Boise, Idaho, he studied clarinet first and then drums, playing in a succession of rock bands in high school. This experience allowed him to stay open for diverse sources of material and develop his own writing. Discovered and signed in 1991, Stigers mixed originals, standards, and covers by such contemporary writers asElvis Costelloin his repertoire.Secret Heartcontinues with the same confident mix of material that he's explored over the past decade. Songs byRandy Newman,Ron Sexsmith, andSteve Earleintermingle agreeably with numbers byCole Porter,Harold Arlen, andHenry Mancini. In addition, his own writing is solidly represented with the bluesy sashay of "How Could a Man Take Such a Fall" and the laid-back shuffle of "Swingin' Down at 10th & Main."--David Greenberger