Music reviews. CD reviews. Critically hip!

I have not heard a truly great – or even good – jazz album in a long time. Diana Krall’s release from 2006 – that was the last great jazz album I have heard. Chris Humphrey was an unlikely great jazz candidate. Although he hails from Portsmouth, NH – my stomping grounds – and graduated from the college where I currently attend (University of New Hampshire), I had yet to hear of him. After doing a little bit of research, I finally decided to give the album a little bit of a listen, and I have to say that I was not just highly or greatly surprised at his talent, but I was pleasantly surprised as well.

Nothing But Blue Sky is Chris Humphrey’s first solo album. He has been performing with jazz ensembles and vocal groups since his college days, but now, at the age of forty, he has finally released a set of his own productions and recordings. Many of the recordings on Nothing But Blue Sky are songs that have been previously recorded by other artists. Chris Humphrey, on the other hand, has arranged and created new harmonies for some of these songs, adding a jazz touch to old, overplayed pieces like Johnny Nash’s I Can See Clearly Now. He and his wife, Jennifer, have also written lyrics to some instrumental pieces. An example of this includes Monk’s That’s the Way I Feel Now, which resulted in the second track on this album, Friday the 13th. They have also collaborated to write songs together. These include the two pieces written for their children: Ana’s Song (Safe in My Arms) and Lullaby for Jackson.

Chris Humphrey is not the sole artist produced on this album; also included are Matt Wilson, Martin Wind, and Mark Shilansky. Humphrey recreated new harmonies and music for these pieces in order to portray the song as he wished for Wilson, Wind, and Shilansky to play them. Humphrey contributes the vocals while these three talented men play the music to accompany him. The result is a beautifully crafted album that was recorded in a mere two days from a man who was born and raised in my home-state of New Hampshire.