Jimmy Scott: Holding Back The Years

The husky, sexy, decidedly feminine voice of jazz singer Jimmy Scott returns with the new Holding Back The Years, his first release since 1996's Heaven. Though dropped from his major label, it's good to see that Scott still has the opportunity to continue the comeback he began several years ago with the help of famous admirers Lou Reed and David Lynch. An instantly appealing collection of songs made up largely of jazz renditions of songs by contemporary artists as diverse as Prince and Simply Red, Holding Back The Years finds Scott following Cassandra Wilson and Herbie Hancock with his own collection of "new standards." As usual, Scott's phrasing is as unusual as his voice, itself an instrument as powerful as it is disconcerting. Some of the selections seem a little obvious: "The Crying Game," for instance, seems too explicit a reference to Scott's vocal ambiguity, and Elvis Costello's "Almost Blue" barely needs reworking to be turned into jazz. But Scott makes the most of these songs, as he does with his passionate renditions of John Lennon's "Jealous Guy," Bryan Ferry's "Slave To Love," and a version of "Nothing Compares 2 U" that sounds otherworldly in a way far removed from both Prince and Sinead O'Connor. Even the flaccid Elton John number "Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word" works in Scott's hands. With the spare, steady accompaniment of a jazz combo, Holding Back The Years creates something that sounds, in the best way possible, like the music you'll hear in the most sophisticated airport lounge of the mid-21st century. Scott should be required by law to make an album like this every year.