Jack Thorncraft - Let's Think About Tomorrow (Independent)

Historical article recovered from a Wayback capture dated 2018-02-24.

If Thorncraft had chosen to rest on his laurels, his legend would have been sufficient to cement his place in the pantheon of Australian jazz legends having been an integral bassist in bands such as the Jazz Co-Op, The Last Straw and Mark Simmonds. Indeed, he has worked with many more. But in the 1980’s Thorncraft chose the far north coast lifestyle to retreat but also to hone his vocal skills. He never stopped playing bass and as a long awaited follow up to his 1998 Aria nominated album Sing Some Play Some he has now released another album where his vocals are at the forefront. There is an honesty and sentimentality in the voice that seems to have defied age and grown more appealing. It occupies a timbre territory somewhere between Bob Dorough and Giacomo Gates but sometimes with hints of Willie Nelson. Of the sixteen choice but under-utilised standards such as Dorsey’s I’m Glad There is You or Berlin’s The Best Thing For You, he includes seven of his own compositions that are every bit as attractive as the standards and blend seamlessly into this context. A case in point would be Goodbye My Friend which hints at R & B with the organ of Steve Russell and the Dave Sanders backbeat. Other talent appearing includes John Hoffman flugel, Jim Kelly guitar and James Cox percussion

Peter Wockner