Henri Salvador: Room With A View (Chambre Avec Vue)

On his new Blue Note release, Room With A View, Henry Salvador croons softly of "Jazz, Silver Moonlight." On the opener and the title track, Salvador overdubs his voice to less than wonderful results. The disc has a decided retro feeling to it, as the rhythm sections Latin and Bossa Nova accompaniments seem a little stuck in the '60s, as do the occasional string arrangements. On "J'ai Vu," when Salvador enters, its sounds as if (all of a sudden) the singer is in the room with us and the orchestra is in the bathroom/downstairs. I'd have preferred it the other way around.

This CD features very questionable recording techniques, and contains little or no jazz content. I seriously didn't know Blue Note made this type of record. This might be a nice gift for mom, or better yet grandma, and would fit in nicely between an Engelbert Humperdinck date and a Jerry Vale thing in her collection. A serious jazz fan won't have a space for this in his or her collection. Come on Blue Note!