Yo! Bobby

Most of the time when a tribute is paid to a singer, the resulting project emphasizes vocals. Yo! Bobby, a two-CD tribute to Bobby Darin, is quite unusual in that no singing takes place. The Waverly Seven, a septet with two keyboards and three horns, performs 24 songs that Darin had recorded, including some of his hits (though, surprisingly, not "Beyond the Sea"). As with a tribute to Ella, Sinatra, Bing, or Sarah Vaughan, there were hundreds if not thousands of possible songs to pick, many of which are well-known standards, and one could practically record the same numbers for each tribute! This project, which includes eight appearances by guest baritonist Scott Robinson (who is always an asset) and nine from guitarist Vic Juris, gave the musicians a good excuse to perform a variety of standards that they might not have gotten to otherwise. Anat Cohen is particularly impressive on clarinet (though she is fine on all five of her reeds), tenor saxophonist Joel Frahm and trumpeter Avishai Cohen are in excellent form, and the rhythm section is colorful and versatile. The interpretations are respectful without closely copying the original Bobby Darin records, and the overall results are pleasing and swinging. ~ Scott Yanow