Michael Wolff - Love and Destruction (2006)

Michael Wolff has a strong reputation as a versatile and swinging jazz pianist. Love and Destruction is a major change for him; on this set he is cast as a singer/songwriter, performing modern folk music and sounding a bit (tone-wise) like Michael Franks but with a weaker voice. His website claims that this set of music is a mixture of rock, pop and world music and it is true that his jazz piano and improvising are greatly de-emphasized. But the messages Wolff sings about (including on five of his originals) are not that compelling, the covers are not particularly memorable, the musicians have little to do, and Wolff's voice will not impress many listeners. Hopefully Love and Destruction is only a temporary departure from Michael Wolff's musical strengths. ~ Scott Yanow

Personnel: Michael Wolff - Piano, Hammond B3, Rhodes, Vocals; John B. Williams - Electric Upright Bass; Richie Goods - Electric Bass; Mike Clark - Drums; Chuck Morris - Drums; Badal Roy - Tablas; Brad Dutz - Percussion; John Guth - Guitar; The African Children's Choir - Vocals, Sloan Wainwright;- John Guth - Background Vocals