Kirk Whalum | Romance Language

Kirk Whalum | Romance Language
By Peggy Oliver

One of jazz’s unlikely pairs, depending on who you might speak with, stirred some magic in the early sixties. John Coltrane was undeniably a groundbreaking modern saxophone player who leaned more towards the avant-gardism school of thinking. After choosing crooner Johnny Hartman for an Impulse! recording project of romantic ballads came to fruition in 1963, Coltrane immediately connected with Hartman’s melodic and sensitive phrasing, which was the self-titled project’s driving force.

Over forty five years later, Kurt Elling etched his astounding vocal jazz arsenal for a live concert tribute to Coltrane and Hartman that featured all six tracks from the 1963 Impulse! sessions; cleverly interspersing a classical string quartet with his backing trio. Kirk Whalum, who understands a thing or two about tributes (i.e. R&B vocalist/producer Babyface and icon Donny Hathaway), invites his family – brother Kevin Whalum and uncle Hugh Whalum – with a smooth jazz angle of the legendary 1963 Coltrane and Hartman recording. Romance Language, Kirk’s 19th solo disc, combines the original tracks with four additional pieces that rekindle the romantic sentiments.

Though Kevin’s creamy soul voice has more of a Nat King Cole vibe than Hartman, his vocal timbre accented by Kirk’s fluid saxophone counterpart on Romance Language equals the elegant contemporary jazz ingredients. This Rendezvous Music release finds Kirk’s working band and long time colleague/co-producer John Stoddart’s keyboards sparking that romantic aura with classy seventies soft funk jazz atmospheres complete with flutes, strings and brass. However, compared to the Elling tribute, Romance Language stalls on several occasions. Where Elling dared to paint different pictures of the Coltrane and Hartman recorded standards, the orchestrations get caught up in the same groove lines. Despite Kirk’s tender soulful saxophone factor and Kevin’s calm balladry presence, Romance Language seems a bit too safe and it would have been a bit more beneficial for Kirk to utilize more of his already diverse musicality. The best example of this, by far, is Hugh ‘Peanut’s spunky warm tones on the blues-injected “Almost Doesn’t Count,” a Grammy nominated R&B ballad from Brandy. With all the shortcomings aside, Romance Language still emits a fairly attractive aroma for the die-hard lovers in the house. Two and three-quarter stars out of five.

Tracklisting:

They Say It’s Wonderful
Dedicated to You
My One and Only Love
Lush Life
You Are Too Beautiful
Autumn Serenade
Almost Doesn’t Count (recorded by Brandy)
I Wish I Wasn’t (recorded by Heather Hadley and written by Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis)
I Wanna Know (co-written and recorded by Joe)
Spend My Life With You (recorded by Eric Benet & Tamia)

Peggy Oliver
The Urban Music Scene