Joe Stilgoe - New Songs For Old Souls - Jazz Journal

Baby-faced pianist, singer and songwriter Joe Stilgoe is the man of the moment. His father, the veteran entertainer Sir Richard Stilgoe, must be mighty proud. It's his old man's generation that's likely to get most out of the aptly named New Songs For Old Souls album. The writing on numbers like Nobody Cares Like Me or Rainbows In My Teacup has a tin-pan-alley quality - in both senses of the word quality. Stilgoe's songs, with their knowing lyrics pinned onto tunes that have sharper hooks than a mackerel line, could easily be neglected standards from the golden era of Broadway. To cap it all, he really can sing - albeit with a hint of Footlights in there - tripping lightly and articulately through the songs. There's obviously a healthy niche for this form of retro light entertainment - think Cullum and Bublé - and Joe is tailor made for it.