So I’m starting this review and have ‘Film Noir’ off Shire’s ‘Rapture’ release streaming. Can I just say that it is absolutely beautiful! I’m not very well versed in jazz, but this just feels wonderful. It washes over you like a hazy daydream and honestly, until my connection made the stream stop, I was in danger of not being able to type at all.
Shires wields the trumpet in such a non-invasive manner and is completely captivating with a subtlety I, in my naivety, did not realise was achievable with a brass instrument. Then again, maybe I need to bulk up my c.d. collection.
He first came to my attention when I attended a Kelly Clarkson tour date in October, most notably when he stepped out on stage to do a duet (he playing the trumpet, Clarkson singing) of Patsy Cline’s ‘Walking After Midnight’ and almost stole the limelight entirely, no easy feat when you consider the calibre of talent on stage. I’m including a video of the song as performed a few days after I saw it…
(Shires enters at about the 2 minute mark, though I recommend watching it the whole way through to get a proper feel for the track)
I was also lucky enough to meet Shires after the show (and also the following evening at an Ashley Arrison gig in NYC) and he was the perfect gentleman, a very, very nice guy.
I have never shied from buying an instrumental record, but never has one seemed to have a vocal on it, such is how the trumpet sings in Shires’ recordings. I am definitely ordering a copy soon, this streaming business just doesn’t do it justice.
