E. J. Decker

While the City Sleeps; Magnet; Tenderly; It's Just a Matter of Time; (We're) Strangers Now; Since I Met You Baby; How to Handle a Woman; Anything You Wanna Do (I Wanna Do with You); Brother, Can You Spare A Dime?; l Could Have Told You; Sea Cruise; You Don 't Know Me.

Personnel: E. J. Decker, vocals; Randy Sandke, trumpet; Bob Kindred, tenor saxophone; Les Kurtz, piano; Dave Hofstra, bass; Tom Melito, drums.

By Scott Gotschall

There may be a difference between singing "jazz" and singing "jazzy." E. J. Decker dramatically exhibits this difference on his jazzy release, While the City Sleeps... . Among the highpoints on this album are his rich, baritone voice, a similarly rich knowledge of the jazz vocabulary, and the consistently solid performances of the instrumentalists.

One is first struck by Mr. Decker's rich baritone voice. It reminds the listener of Johnny Hartman, Billy Eckstine, and so many great crooners of the past. His tone is resonant, his articulation immaculate. Mr. Decker's vocal inflection shows a clear understanding of the lyrics for each of his selections.

Similarly, he evidences a rich and far-reaching vocabulary of jazz and jazz influences. It is obvious, from the tune selection upward, that Mr. Decker is aware of the roots of this idiom. From "Tenderly" to "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?" to "Sea Cruise," he offers a thorough presentation of his knowledge of the phraseology of the genre.

For instance, on "It's Just a Matter of Time," a down-home blues selection, he uses all the slides, smears, growls and inflection of a true blues-man. From this extreme, to the other; on "Sea Cruise" (not generally thought of as a jazz song) he is equally familiar with appropriate devices, inflections and style. Mr. Decker does a wonderful job in synthesizing the jazz lexicon into his own luxurious style.

His band also shows a sizeable knowledge of styles and genres; particularly, Les Kurtz on piano, and Bob Kindred on tenor saxophone. They brilliantly display their utter understanding within each selection on the album. Their choices are entirely appropriate and serve only to support their leader, while at the same time demonstrating an exhaustive awareness of various musical techniques.

Unfortunately, not everything on this album is positive. His use of cliches seems at times to be a parody of the crooners of the fifties. His use of slides, shakes, vibrato, and tremolos is reminiscent of what could be an Elvis Presley impression. Mr. Decker is able to use such devices effectively; unfortunately he simply has not yet learned when not to use them.

For instance, on "Tenderly" he literally scoops nearly every melody note. Although appropriate for beginnings of phrases, it becomes a caricature of the song when utilized as often as Mr. Decker uses them here. Were they to be employed more sparsely, an entirely effective album would be possible.