"You're The One" by Rob Lee Thompson

Out yesterday was "You're The One", the latest single from Rob Lee Thompson: released on his wife's birthday.

This is not some sort of extraordinary coincidence as the song is about her and naturally features Rob's words as well as singing with music by Tom Haines who also plays the drums alongside Alex Thompson on piano, Mike Green on double bass and Chris Proctor on saxophone.

As you might expect, from someone so steeped in classic vocal jazz & who has interpreted a lot of challenging standards from that genre & others such as soul, you get a lot of his experience poured into the mix along with his skills & obvious emotional commitment to such a personal subject: and what emerges is perfectly formed to become a standard in its own right, having a focus which means the world to him, but which is not so specifically articulated that it cannot be applied to anyone else an interested musician might wish to direct it towards.

Played & sung with a delightfully & tastefully light touch by this excellent lineup, the sincerity of the song is conveyed by the honesty of the delivery rather than overdoing it on the histrionic scale.

I hope others get to hear it: it cries out to be covered as well as enjoyed in this its original version (made at at Sansom Studios). Although, as with recent releases such as his take on Bill Withers' 1971 hit "Grandma's Hands", Rob is as much in the soul groove as a jazz one, it's good to hear people writing fresh & meaningful new material in this style rather than trooping repeatedly to the well of over-exposed standards. It's keeping the tradition alive.

Look out too for his next release, "Do We Look Back" which is due out on August 20th.