Calm, Cool & Collected

In the manner of a present day troubadour, Byron Walls has pulled together tunes covering a conglomeration of human conditions he has written over the last 20 years for such diverse performers as Andy Williams and Glenn Yarborough. From the sad and fatalistic "Things Change" to the amusing "A Piece of Me," Walls is funny, hip, defiant, world weary, sardonic and sometimes even hopeful, but mostly cool and witty. For example, the protagonist of the latter tune doesn't want anyone to get a piece of him since he has already lost a piece of himself via circumcision. So "no one gets a piece of him unless he comes along". It's the kind of music one would likely hear in the coffee houses and small clubs if such venues were as common today as they were in the 1960's. Walls dispenses all of this emotional potpourri in a sincere manner with his light, melodic voice. He is joined on this session by some high quality, well-recognized jazz musicians. In addition to the trio of John Pisano, Chuck Berghoffer and John Ferraro, Warren Luening joins the group on trumpet and flugelhorn for"Louis" (a psalm to Louis Armstrong"), "Holiday Inn in the Andes" and "Jump off the Edgeand Fly." Jeanne Pisano provides the backup vocal on the last tune. Walls falls nicely into that vocal category of witty, carefree performers who deliver comments on life with their vocal and/or compositional wares such as Dave Frishberg, Mark Murphy. Bob Dorough and Mose Allison and brushing against the satire of a Tom Lehrer. If you like these singers and their work, you'll love Walls and this album.