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Iain Mackenzie

Twice on Sunday

Jazzizit JITCD0540

With a voice that's light, smooth but infused with just enough swing and pep to enable him to be classed as a jazz rather than a pop singer (Peter Cincotti with a hint of Harry Connick), Iain Mackenzie has established himself in a somewhat overcrowded scene with work for NYJO, the BBC Big Band, the Tim Whitehead Group and the Pasadena Roof Orchestra, among others.

This is his debut album, and features an accomplished band ê pianist Pete Churchill, bassist Simon Thorpe, drummer Troy Miller, plus Pete Wareham on saxophone ê backing him on a pleasingly varied selection of jazz standards ('Angel Eyes', 'I've Got You Under My Skin', 'The Very Thought of You'), pop classics (Stevie Wonder's 'If It's Magic') and tunes to which Mackenzie has written lyrics (Clare Fischer's 'Pensativa', Strauss's 'The Blue Danube').

His versions of Stanley Turrentine's 'Sugar' and Cohn/Miller/Krueger/Stein's 'Sunday', too, perfectly showcase his cool, laidback style; with the odd reservation (his slight alteration of the end of the middle eight of 'I Concentrate on You', for instance, drains it of the rapturous drama that characterises its definitive Ella version), this comes recommended to those who like their jazz singing cool, straightforward and unfussy.