Anthony Strong - Stepping Out (2013) CD Rip

He sings like he breathes, and plays the piano like he sings... A sort of five o'clock tea with a dash of malt.' An audacious singer, pianist and songwriter, Anthony Strong is hailed as 'England's new jazz superstar.' He started grabbing attention in early 2012, thanks to a support slot with the legendary BB King and an EP release that reached #1 on the UK jazz charts. Stepping Out is Strong's debut album on Naive and was successfully launched in Europe in spring 2013. Entertaining, fresh and exhilarating, it features standards (Cole Porter's 'Too Darn Hot,' Irving Berling's 'Stepping Out With My Baby,' 'My Foolish Heart,' 'My Ship'), covers ('L-O-V-E,' Stevie Wonder's 'Overjoyed') and new songs by Strong.

Review
Classy but modern and never cheesy, Strong is the anti Groban all the way. Neatly and smartly in the pocket throughout, this is how to start the evening modern style. --Midwest Record, Chris Spector

Anyone who has been waiting for the flood tide of popular and first-rate male jazz singers to equal - and perhaps even exceed - that of the mammoth wave of female jazz singers that followed the Diana Krall/Karrin Allyson generation should know that it has happened. And then some. Hot on the heels of the superb new Blue Note disc by Gregory Porter is this, from a singer who is from another stream entirely - the popular one that began with Harry Connick Jr. and includes arena favorite Michael Buble and charismatic Brit pianist/singer Jamie Cullum. The brilliant new addition to that bunch is Anthony Strong. 3.5 out of 4 stars --The Buffalo News

Here's proof that if there is a just God (and I believe that there is) eventually male vocalists such as this guy Anthony Strong will have their day in court. First, he's got his tenored tone down pat. He sounds light and swinging, but it's his own voice. Even better, he writes a lot of his own material, and, hey, it's GOOD! --George W. Harris, Jazz Weekly

"The ebb and flow on Stepping Out is spot on while the band pops with vitality and Anthony Strong moves well past the label of crooner and into his own world as a more than legitimate vocal artist." --Brent Black, bop-n-jazz.com, October 2013

Tracklist:
01. Anthony Strong - Too Darn Hot
02. Anthony Strong - Change My Ways
03. Anthony Strong - Luck Be A Lady
04. Anthony Strong - Stepping Out With My Baby
05. Anthony Strong - L-O-V-E
06. Anthony Strong - Falling In Love
07. Anthony Strong - Someone Knows
08. Anthony Strong - My Foolish Heart
09. Anthony Strong - My Ship
10. Anthony Strong - Witchcraft
11. Anthony Strong - When I Fall In Love
12. Anthony Strong - Overjoyed
13. Anthony Strong - Earlybird
14. Anthony Strong - Learning To Unlove You