SKINNYBONES (Truesongs)  •  Victor Mecyssne

Some people are just born cool. They're natty dressers from birth, snapping their fingers in grade school to sounds the other kids don't seem to hear.

Victor's a popular songwriter in Nashville, and is considered the jazz daddy on the scene. You can also hear some country, jump blues, and even folk in the tunes, but they come through the jazzbo filter. In the tradition of Mose Allison and Randy Newman, he never fails to turn a lyric sharp enough to cut the paper it's written on. Unlike most songwriters in Nashville, Victor was born and bred in that locale, and his inventions are singularly Southern, genteel but wry, juicy but dry. He hits home equally well with the humor of "Where Does My Paycheck Go" and the heartfelt "Dear Old Dad." I like him best when he's singing about music or musicians, like "Mellow Sounds" and "Jazz Man," he's a classic.

A fine parlor of players is featured, as a quick investigation of the sound clips will reveal. There are no bad songs on the record, so you won't have to program the CD player, just press start. Dig the mellow sounds of Skinnybones, and make the world go away.    • FG

victormecyssne.com    TrueSongs.com
 
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