New Vintage by Christopher Martin

12 Aug

Written by Lee Prosser
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I can think of numerous reasons for avoiding piano bars, both legitimate and unfounded. This album reaffirms all of those reasons. Actor/singer Christopher Martin's "New Vintage" if a collection of standards and show tunes delivered with an overwrought cabaret vibrato and tongue-in-cheek ambiguity.

This album is an exercise in self-absorption; "New Vintage" is the polar opposite of Anthony Braxton's "For Alto". But the two albums share this in common: they're hard to sit through and induce violent reactions in the listener. The difference is Braxton was challenging the listener to open his ears and mind. Martin's disc is saccharine that even a smooth jazz station would turn down.