It isn't hard to understand why so many jazz critics have an incredibly low opinion of smooth jazz; a great deal of it has been soulless, robotic, bland and unimaginative. But not all smooth jazz is without merit. If one believes that
David Sanborn,
Ronnie Laws, and the late
Grover Washington, Jr. have been a part of smooth jazz (although their work has had just as much to do with soul-jazz), then it's easy to make the argument that some smooth jazz is worthy of praise. And parts of
Miles Davis' 1985 release
You're Under Arrest found the trumpet icon dabbling in smooth jazz with worthwhile results. That brings us to
Leif Shires, whose
What a Wonderful World has one foot in smooth jazz and the other in cool jazz. It isn't hard to figure out who his main influences are;
Shires' lyrical, introspective trumpet playing owes a lot to
Miles Davis,
Chet Baker, and
Chris Botti.
What a Wonderful World is easy listening, but it's respectable easy listening rather than flat-out elevator muzak -- and
Shires' playing is consistently likable whether he is getting into cool jazz (which is basically a subtle, understated approach to bop) on
Thelonious Monk's "'Round Midnight" (the song producer
Orrin Keepnews called "the national anthem of jazz"), "Autumn Leaves," and the
Nat King Cole-associated "Unforgettable," or favoring more of a smooth jazz outlook on
Sting's "Fields of Gold,"
Michael Jackson's "Human Nature," and
Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time."
Davis played those
Jackson and
Lauper hits on
You're Under Arrest, and
Shires' versions were clearly inspired by
Davis'; however,
Shires is smart enough to improvise instead of trying to play every single note that
Davis played on his interpretations back in the 1980s. There is no getting around the fact that
What a Wonderful World is quite derivative, but it's tastefully derivative -- and while this early 2009 release isn't remarkable, it is still a pleasant demonstration of
Shires' melodic lyricism. ~ Alex Henderson