The album opens with the shortest of instrumental tracks.
Titled “First,” it’s only twelve seconds long, and is some pretty guitar work
by Greg Poree. That leads to the title track, “First Man,” which begins with
guitar and a bit of vocal play. When it kicks in, this song reminds me of The
Temptations. It has a cool groove, with some nice work on percussion, and I dig
the Sidney’s vocal play toward the end. This is one of my favorite tracks.
Sidney Jacobs gets more into jazz territory with “Last Night,” a song featuring
the horn section and some delightful scat. “And
baby, I’m with you all the way/Yes, I am.” I love that Sidney doesn’t hold
back vocally, but in a wonderfully unselfconscious way lets it out. And what a
voice! This is another of the disc’s highlights.
“Undercurrent” is an incredibly short drum solo that
leads right into a cover of “My Favorite Things.” I’m not sure why it’s offered
as a separate track, as it really feels like the beginning of the song. I’m not
a fan of “My Favorite Things,” mostly because I think the lyrics are terrible.
But I enjoy the music of this version, as well as Sidney’s vocal play when not
delivering the lines – basically the scat. Justin Thomas adds some nice work on
vibes. And I like the end, where Sidney’s strong voice is particularly
impressive. And listen to how smooth he can be on “Fly,” a song that features a
wonderful saxophone part by Josh Johnson during the instrumental section that
begins like three and a half minutes in. The sax is pretty and uplifting over
that good groove.
“The Story Teller” is basically a guitar and spoken word introduction
to “Lonely Town, Lonely Street.” Sidney says, “One of our greatest songwriters, singers, storytellers – he wrote this
song in 1973.” The songwriter he’s taking about is Bill Withers, who wrote
and recorded such great songs as “Ain’t No Sunshine” and “Lean On Me.” “Lonely
Town, Lonely Street” might not be as well-known as those hits, but it’s a
really good song, and Sidney Jacobs delivers an excellent rendition (although
it’s lacking that funky edge of the original). However, Sidney has the date
wrong. “Lonely Town, Lonely Street” was featured on Bill Withers’ 1972 album Still Bill.
The lines that I really like from “Say What You Will” are
“You’ve got so much to say/But more than
that you’ve got so much to learn.” Words we should all take to heart at
various points, eh? I also really like Michael Jarvey’s work on piano. Sidney
follows that with a cover of Kendrick Lamar’s “You Ain’t Gotta Lie.” This version
is better than the original. For one thing, Sidney pronounces “ask” correctly. It
sounds like Kendrick says “ax” instead, which is obnoxious. But this rendition
also has a cooler vibe. That’s followed by another cover, Sacha Distel’s “The
Good Life.” I love the late-night feel of the playing on this track, by Zephyr
Avalon on bass and Josh Nelson on piano. Their playing is kind of quiet and
relaxed, but still very cool and confident.
And Sidney’s voice rises above them at moments. This track is another of
the disc’s highlights, and features some wonderful work on bass.
“Long Walk” surprisingly opens with strings – Francesco
Canas on violin and Michael Jarvey on viola. It’s a pretty opening section, and
it’s nearly a full minute before Sidney’s vocals comes in. “Even when you tell me that you won’t/I
believe you will/That’s my hope still/Even when this dream turns into dust/I
just can’t give up/What else can I do/Long walk.” The CD then ends with a
touching and tender cover of James Taylor’s “Secret O’ Life.” Rather than
guitar, it is piano that accompanies Sidney’s voice on this rendition.
CD Track List
- First
- First Man
- Last Night
- Undercurrent
- My Favorite Things
- Sabine’s Grind
- Fly
- The Story Teller
- Lonely Town Lonely Street
- Say What You Will
- You Ain’t Gotta Lie
- The Good Life
- The Love Within You
- Long Walk
- Secret O’ Life
First Man was
released on January 23, 2017 on Babychubs Records.
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