Jazz artists over the decades have often relied on pop songs as the basis and jumping-off point for classic and enduring recordings (
John Coltrane
's "My Favorite Things" comes immediately to mind), songs that were written by the leading Tin Pan Alley and Broadway composers of the day. It should come as no surprise, then, that the rich and varied songbook of
the Beatles
, a pop Holy Grail if ever there were one, should serve the next generation of jazz artists in the same way. This set features several
HighNote
artists reimagining classic
Beatles
tunes in a jazz direction, and again, not surprisingly, songs like "Something," "Here Comes the Sun," "Eleanor Rigby," "In My Life," and "Yesterday" hold their inner grace and power in these versions, no matter into what guise they're stretched. ~ Steve Leggett