An excellent jazz singer based in Chicago ever since he moved there from his native Buffalo in 2003, Paul Marinaro has excellent elocution (one can always understand the words he sings), an appealing tone in his voice, and always swings. Mood Ellington is at least his fifth album as a leader. While he prefers to sing standards, he did have a brief departure when he spent time a few years ago successfully turning some of David Bowie’s songs into jazz.
On the double-CD Mood Ellington, Marinaro sings 25 songs, all composed by Duke Ellington except for Juan Tizol’s “Caravan” and four from Billy Strayhorn. For this ambitious project, he utilizes a five-horn nonet plus occasionally a dozen violins. The singer used the opportunity to have no less than 13 different arrangers write the charts for one or two songs apiece. Best known among the writers are Alan Broadbent, John Clayton, Bill Cunliffe, and Chuck Israels although all 13 are world-class.
Unlike most Duke Ellington tribute albums, the instrumentalists never sound as if they are trying to sound like one of Duke’s groups. The writing often makes the nonet sound a bit like a small 1950s big band although some of the charts are much more modern such as the rhythmically adventurous melody statement of “Just Squeeze Me,” “Solitude,” and “All Too Soon.”
There are plenty of concise solos heard throughout the pro
