Versatile

I have been following Van since buying "Astral Weeks" and "Moondance" together after the latter's release and over the decades the man has always been a class act. Unlike Neil Young and Bob Dylan he has been more consistent and having seen him numerous times even when an average performance for Van, still leaves most of the competition way behind.I had been blown away by "Roll with the punches" earlier in 2017 since while he has done collaborations before that whole CD seemed such an enjoyable groove form beginning to end. Maybe I was expecting too much as a result but this pretty quick follow up only months later is definitely a gear change down.Nothing is done badly (Van is far too professional for that!) but the mix of older standards interlaced with Van originals just does not gel as "Roll" did. I actually found myself comparing it at times with what are for me anyway the dire recordings of the Rod Stewart "Songbook" releases. Van's assumed enthusiasm for the originals just does not come across with any new interpretations that make you sit up and want to listen, which was definitely not the case with comparable covers on "Roll".Still I have had disappointments before ("Hard nose the highway" and "How long has this been going on?" being the two I remember best) so I will just put this down to a temporary dip in the great career of one of our greatest singer/composers from the '70s after his days with Them in the 60s.

I am a long term Van the Man fan, and have stuck with him through most of his projects over the years. This is different from the norm, he is with a group of fellow musicians, playing many standards in a jazzy format, such as Bye Bye Blackbird; Makin' Whoopee; I Get a Kick Out of You; and Unchained Melody. He is obviously having fun, it is all very relaxed and easy going, but it smacks of the cabaret circuit, and many of the covers are nothing that special. There are a few brand new songs, like the opener, Broken Record, but none of these are particularly outstanding.Great for him to play with friends and have a fun relaxed time, but this feels like it is treading water, nothing outstanding ,new or different, very middle of the road, and definitely not one of his best albums, and overall I was left disappointed, and wondering what the point of it all was. There is a generous running time well over an hour with 17 tracks, but in this case more is not necessarily better, as much of it is fairly mediocre, and seems to be filler. It follows fairly soon after his last Blues album which was much more cutting edge and worthwhile . Some of the tracks are background muzak that you might hear in say a hotel lobby, like the instrumental Skye Boat Song, where Van plays alto saxophone, it is so laid back it is almost horizontal. No problems with him having such fun sessions informally with his friends, but they do not really justify a separate record release. I strongly suggest that you give this one a miss, unless you are a real fan of cabaret jazz standards.

Van Morrison is a musical hero so I'm sad to say he's milking it here. His voice is not what it was, you'll hear all these tunes performed much better by other artists. Don't waste your money.

Love this new album from Van Morrison. As a lover of standards and the American songbook it’s great to hear Mr Morrison dedicate a whole album to swing and for the most part he does it in style and panache. If was seeing Van at Ronnie Scott’s this is exactly how I imagine he’d sound. Brilliant album Mr Morrison. Thank you.

A decent sellection of standars and self penned songs, not the fire of some albums by Van, slightly pedestrian.

Love Van Morrisons albums and this is no exception.

Van can do the lot. Blues, Jazz, Rock and even country. He is versatile. Another great album.

The best Van album in years. Nothing tired or stale about this one! It's fresh, new and exciting. I had been a bit worried about the covers he has done, particularly Unchained Melody, but I was pleasantly surprised on hearing them - he has given them all a Van twist and they are all very listenable.

Smooth. A little too much within himself though.

Just gotta love this cd of the great man Sir Van Morrison.

Another gem from the prolific Van The Man. An excellent follow up to Roll With The Punches.

Good

Very Good

Great album for chilling to

perfect