Smooth Jazz Tribute to the Beatles in Bloomington, MN

The
Beatles
songbook is full of graceful melodies that adapt well outside the pop genre, and there have been reggae, salsa, string quartet, big band, blues, R&B, country, and bluegrass (to name just a few) tributes to
the Beatles
, and each confirms the obvious. This band has one hell of a songbook. This set features smooth jazz versions of
classics by a small studio ensemble called
the Smooth Jazz All Stars
. Most of it stops just shy of being elevator music, but there are some highlights, including a muted
"In My Life"
in which the song's gorgeous melody shines just fine without words, a maudlin
"Eleanor Rigby"
that smoothes out the song but can't quite remove its inherent sadness, and a rhythmically interesting
"Come Together"
that ends up sounding like a pretty cool bit of vintage soul-jazz. ~ Steve Leggett