CD REVIEW : Darvy Traylor Flies Right in Saloon-Singer Tradition : ***

Darvy Traylor “Bridging the Gap”

Sierra Digital Productions Being called a saloon singer is no insult (Sinatra often bestows the title on vocalists he admires) and Darvy Traylor is a very good saloon singer. His renditions of such standards as “Georgia” and Nat Cole’s “Straighten Up and Fly Right” are delivered up close and personal on this new CD, giving the vocalist a chance to display wide dynamic and emotional range in the space of a few phrases. Less convincing are the few pop tunes Traylor includes, where his expressiveness sometimes seems wasted on dull material. Though he pulls out all the emotional stops on “The Impossible Dream,” the number ultimately falls flat. While the singer may be at his most expressive during the tune, he’s also at his most vulnerable, with his few vocal weaknesses prominently on display. In the end, the lyrics, heard so often as to be beyond trite, cripple Traylor’s ambitious reading.

Traylor shows a fondness for approaching familiar numbers with an off-beat approach: his upbeat, honky-tonk reading of “Tennessee Waltz” is a far cry from the way Patti Page handled the tune. Traylor also is fond of medleys, combining “You’ve Changed” with “A Cottage for Sale” and “Gee Baby” and “L.O.V.E,” both with success. Arranger Joe Massimino injects the session with further life with synthesized brass and string passages that improve all the tunes but “Impossible Dream,” where the sound is more syrup than substance. But for fans of the saloon singer tradition, “Bridging the Gap” is a satisfying, often romantic, session.