I'm In Love With a Girl

Album Review

For this album, Doug Ferony garnered a big band headed by Clark Gault to back his strong, appealing, confident voice for a CD devoted to pop standards and a couple of the singer's originals. Gault also did most of the arranging for the session, taking a cue from Billy May with a big, brash brass section. A good many of the tunes here have been recorded by Frank Sinatra, to whom Ferony has looked in shaping his style — and why not? Ferony brings that sophisticated, swinging, sensual (on the slow stuff) articulation that made Sinatra one of the very best of the best in the business. But wisely, Ferony doesn't try to be an Ol' Blue Eyes clone. He has his own ideas on how these distinguished entries from the Great American Popular Songbook should be handled. His phrasing concepts come through on "Night and Day" and "It's All Right With Me." He uses the coda of the latter to show that he can end a tune on a special jazzy high note. Moreover, Gault's arrangements are designed to showcase Ferony's special vocal talent. Gault's group is a good one. Unfortunately, not all of the members of the group are identified, just the soloists. And there are good individual efforts by Gault on trombone, Gary Pack on trumpet, Tim Ries on alto sax, and Bob Ward on guitar. Most of the tempos are fast, but "Where or When" slows things down as Ferony turns balladeer, which he does quite well. I'm in Love With a Girl is a solid 46 minutes by a fine singer, doing well-arranged familiar material and backed by musicians who are at ease with both the music and the singer. Recommended.