Scottish jazz pianist and composer
Bill Wells has made his career out of eclectic collaborations, pairing his talents with a variety of indie rock fringe-dwellers and generally operating outside of the box with his acclaimed group
the National Jazz Trio of Scotland. This outing under the
Bill Wells & Friends banner finds the veteran bandleader leading an array of special guests through sparse reconstructions of both popular and fairly obscure nursery rhymes. Wielding a grant from from the arts organization Creative Scotland,
Wells set up camp in New York, where he and
Teenage Fanclub's Norman Blake recruited various musical friends who were either living in the city or passing through at the time of recording. The resulting combos that populate these 15 tracks range from inspired to pleasantly odd, and
Wells gets points for simply making situations like this album exist. His knack for conveying mischievousness and warmth are in full effect here, with some songs falling squarely on one side or the other but more often than not aligning in combined magic, like on the strangely mystical rendition of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" sung in Japanese by
Deerhoof's Satomi Matsuzaki. Many of the arrangements fall in the vein of gently melancholic cabaret with singers like
Syd Straw,
Isobel Campbell, and British folk legend
Bridget St. John providing some very compelling performances over
Wells' wistful piano work.
St. John's take on "Ding Dong Bell" is particularly transformative, bringing out the maudlin tone of the familiar rhyme's lyrics. Of the assembled musicians, indie rock icons
Yo La Tengo and jazz singer/pianist
Karen Mantler and her trio act as mainstays throughout much of the album, providing both vocals and instrumentation for many of the tracks. Other guests include country singer
Amy Allison,
Hospitality singer Amber Papini, actor/singer
Michael Cerveris, and music therapist Aby Vulliamy. ~ Timothy Monger