THE BORDERLAND

Long Time Comin’ Album Review
by John M. Peters
March 3, 2011

For some reason while listening to this new album by pianist and vocalist Marty Williams I was reminded of those classic Verve jazz songbook albums of the 50s and 60s where classic songs were reinterpreted by singers like Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan. Here, Mr Williams provides the vocals and the piano and unshakably impresses his own persona on these dozen songs. 

With a quartet of damn fine musicians backing him, this is quite a classy album. Mr Williams has one of those gruff, crackly voices which may at first be the opposite of the smoothness one expects, but actually brings a lot of humanity and feeling to the performances. This is a jazz album but it is equally bluesy as well, and a little exposure via soundtracking on a hit TV series would help no end in spreading the word. The quartet are: Eric Swinderman - guitar, Ruth Davies - bass, Joe Evans - bass, Ranzel Merritt - drums, but Mr Williams swinging and rolling piano commands throughout. The tracks are: Brother (Where Are You), Caravan, Come Together, Compared To What, Love For Sale, Mercy Mercy Mercy, Monk's Dream, On A Clear Day, Sunny, Sweet & Lovely, and The Look Of Love. 

The bottom line with Long Time Comin' is that it is an exuberant, upbeat and musically accomplished album with many highlights and enough variety in terms of source material [Ellington to Zawinul via Bacharach and the Beatles] to act as a great showcase for this splendid musician. What else can I say but highly recommended!