Michael Wolff has a strong reputation as a versatile and swinging jazz pianist.
Love and Destruction is a major change for him; on this set he is cast as a singer/songwriter, performing modern folk music and sounding a bit (tone-wise) like
Michael Franks but with a weaker voice. His website claims that this set of music is a mixture of rock, pop and world music and it is true that his jazz piano and improvising are greatly de-emphasized. But the messages
Wolff sings about (including on five of his originals) are not that compelling, the covers are not particularly memorable, the musicians have little to do, and
Wolff's voice will not impress many listeners. Hopefully
Love and Destruction is only a temporary departure from
Michael Wolff's musical strengths. ~ Scott Yanow