The
Beatles
songbook is full of graceful melodies that adapt well outside the pop genre, and there have been reggae, salsa, string quartet, big band, blues, R&B, country, and bluegrass (to name just a few) tributes to
the Beatles
, and each confirms the obvious. This band has one hell of a songbook. This set features smooth jazz versions of
classics by a small studio ensemble called
the Smooth Jazz All Stars
. Most of it stops just shy of being elevator music, but there are some highlights, including a muted
"In My Life"
in which the song's gorgeous melody shines just fine without words, a maudlin
"Eleanor Rigby"
that smoothes out the song but can't quite remove its inherent sadness, and a rhythmically interesting
"Come Together"
that ends up sounding like a pretty cool bit of vintage soul-jazz. ~ Steve Leggett