'Compass' by Will Clements
Were Chet Baker not to have sounded quite so much like a predecessor to Joy Division's Ian Curtis, and Harry Connick, Jr. were quite so indebted to Frank Sinatra, such could make for Will Clements’ pearlescent tenor voice. Whatever points of comparisons one wants to measure him against, the Vancouver singer/arranger makes a casually bold impression on his third album, Compass.
Though born of romantic travail in a directionless season of life, a listener almost couldn’t tell Clements had much of a care during the set’s two-year gestation. Whether on his own compositions or remakes of other artists, such as Amy Winehouse, there’s clarity and calm—though they may occur amid a squall of emotional turmoil—in his delivery. Other Canadian talents comprising Clements’ ensemble (on piano, sax, trumpet, guitar and vibraphone) lend Clements airy, melodicallycentered backdrops that allow for poignant solos and some scatting as well.
