Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Mark Bransfield: Night Time

119

Mark Bransfield: Night Time

By

View read count
Mark Bransfield: Night Time
At last, a young, male singer not transfixed by the Rat Pack! Mark Bransfield's voice on Night Time is an immediate lure: a perfect amalgam of Lester Young's feathery lightness and Mel Torme's velvety fog. His vibrato-less tone and relaxed, ever-so-lightly behind the beat phrasing is an inspiring setting for this creative mix of standards and originals.

With spare accompaniment, Bransfield is reflective and pensive on "Nice Work If You Can Get It" and lovingly languid on Duke Ellington's "Prelude to a Kiss." There is no superficial slickness in these presentations. Everything seems bona fide and sincere. While mostly relaxed and sentimental, Bransfield also is hilariously frustrated in the winning and philosophical "Opposites Attract." Few other singers could pull off as clever a song as this and sound thoroughly convincing.

He's even better when left unprotected: his guitar duet on "I Don't Stand a Ghost of a Chance with You" is gripping and dramatic, likewise his after-hours piano teamwork on Gershwin's "They Can't Take That Away from Me." He slips out of the mold on the Jackson Brownish "Baby I Fly Alone" and "Moments," but the vulnerable voice is still there. If you want to hear Prez with lyrics, Night Time is a treat for the ears.

Track Listing

I Can't Give You Anything But Love; I Can't Believe That You're in Love with Me; They Can't Take That Away from Me; Opposites Attract; Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea; I've Got the World on a String; Nice Work If You Can Get It; I've Got a Right to Cry; Prelude to a Kiss; I'm Getting Sentimental Over You; Baby I Fly Alone; Do Nothin' Till You Hear from Me; Moments; I Don't Stand a Ghost of a Chance with You.

Personnel

Mark Bransfield: vocals; Beegie Adair: piano; Andy Reiss: guitar; Roger Spencer: bass; Chris Brown: drums.

Album information

Title: Night Time | Year Released: 2006 | Record Label: Black Dirt Records

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Eternal Moments
Yoko Yates
From "The Hellhole"
Marshall Crenshaw
Tramonto
John Taylor

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.