Matt Monro - This Is the Life/Here's to My Lady (CD)

All Music Guide

This EMI Gold twofer assembles a pair of excellent midSixties efforts by the underrated crooner Matt Monro. This Is the Life pairs Monro with arranger Sid Feller for a collection of standards and ballads that incorporates elements of contemporary pop and jazz but never does so at the expense of its sophistication or hardfought maturity. The coverwith Monro sandwiched between a pair of fabulous babessets the tone for the music inside: this is effervescent, celebratory pop for and by adults. Feller's ripe arrangements beautifully complement the restrained drama of Monro's vocals, and the songs"Strangers in the Night," "Sweet Lorraine" and "Merci Cherie" among themare perfectly calibrated to his almosteffortless interpretive brilliance. Here's to My Lady essentially replicates the winning formula of its predecessor, and why fix what isn't broken? Reuniting Monro with Feller, the album is as mature and comfortable as the cardigan sweater the crooner wears on its coverMonro's vocals are smo...oth and rich like crushed velvet, tackling standards like "Laura," "When Sunny Gets Blue" and "When Joanna Loved Me" with a thoughtfulness that comes only with age and experience. Few crooners are so effortless yet so precise, and Feller's lovely arrangements further enhance the elegance of Monro's approachwhen you've exhausted the Sinatra canon, this is where to go next. - Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide Read more Less