JON CLEARY

Occapella

joncleary.com

In the steamy, groove-drenched version of New Orleans presented on this album—a tribute to legendary Crescent City songwriter Allen Toussaint—Jon Cleary has but one rule: “Everything I Do Gohn Be Funky.” Well, not everything. The English-born session ace mellows out on Glen Campbell’s 1977 hit “Southern Nights,” but he gets toes tapping even as he gazes at the stars and plucks out a spare piano melody. Toussaint is a master of blues, jazz, soul and R&B, styles among which Cleary glides effortlessly here while singing and playing every instrument himself in the more-is-more spirit of N’awlins. On “Poor Boy Got to Move” he even drops a reggae riddim, honoring Toussaint’s source material best by proving its adaptability.

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