"Do We Look Back?" by Rob Lee Thompson
Review
Out on the 20th, as a follow-up to "You're The One", Rob Lee Thompson's new single is called "Do We Look Back?"
It's the customary classy piece which could easily have fitted into the canon of say Tony Bennett: indeed the performance style is very consistent with his.
One of the slow burners which combined with the sparseness of the arrangement and the intimacy of the vocal delivery really expose the playing but thankfully the quality of the band (Tom Haines on drums, Alex Thompson on piano and Mike Green on double bass with regular saxophonist Chris Proctor missing out on this occasion due to the requirements of the piece) not only rise to the challenge but seem to appreciate the chance to show how they can play in this style. Listen out in particular for Alex's excellent solo.
It's interesting that although Rob wrote the lyrics of this song of retrospection & potential regret, he trusted composer Tom to create the accompanying music to the point that what he came up was far from what he initially expected: which is a testament to a working relationship which adds more to the music than mere sums of parts.
