THIS IS BOOK’S MUSIC

Long Time Comin’ Album Review
by John Book
January 15, 2011

If you’ve read any of my jazz reviews in the last 10 years, you’ll know that while I love jazz, I’m not too fond of vocal jazz. Some of it I like, but the one thing I hate about it is when a singer gets carried away with going overboard to prove that they are a jazz singer. After awhile I think damn, is this what every jazz singer wants to sound like?

Then there’s Marty Williams. As soon as he started singing in “Brother (Where Are You)”, I thought whoa, what’s going on here? This was someone who could really sing, or as someone will be proud to say, “sang”. There’s a certain charm in what he does and how he does it, and I found myself wanting to stop everything else and listen to this, which I did. Again and again.

Long Time Comin’ (In Moon Bay) may be titled with a bit of confidence, perhaps he’s saying that this is a jazz album even vocal jazz purists will say “whoa, now this is great”. This man could sing any genre with ease, and you’d want him to do that too but here, he is at home with jazz. Hearing him do “Compared To What”, “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy”, and “The Look Of Love” makes you wish he could do any song given to him so you can hear him do it in his own style. Yes, the man has style, not only in his singing but in his impressive piano playing too.

I don’t know, to get any more in-depth would be to avoid the solid point: Marty Williams is a very good musician and singer, regardless of genres and tags. Get this album, and then see him if he plays in your city. Encore, please.