Smooth Jazz Tribute to the Beatles

Tributee: The Beatles.
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 Beatles 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