Commissioned once again by the Frankfurt Radio Big Band, this follow-up to John Hollenbeck's Grammy-nominated 2013 album Songs I Like A Lot sees the composer, arranger and conductor in the familiar company of vocalists Theo Bleckmann and Kate McGarry, with pianist/organist Uri Caine taking the place of Gary Versace (who pops up on ‘Constant Conversation’ playing melodica and organ). As heard on album opener ‘How Can I Keep From Singing’, which begins with just the shimmering haze of a solo vibraphone, Hollenbeck constructs sound-worlds that you can completely lose yourself in. It would be hard to imagine a finer musical tribute to the song's co-writer, the late Pete Seeger, who passed away early last year. Jazzers clearly have a thing for Cyndi Lauper, and Hollenback's complete reinvention of ‘True Colors’ is a highlight, with McGarry and Bleckmann's mantra-like repetitions of the title and the big band's swirling motivic layers creating a dreamlike effect. A world away from The Carpenters, the brass reharmonisations of Bacharach and David's ‘Close To You’ imbue it with a kind of tragic grandeur, while Hollenbeck's ‘The Snow Is Deep On The Ground’, in which the elegant vocalese of McGarry and Bleckmann at times becomes subsumed into the overall ensemble, encourages you to luxuriate in the sheer beauty of the sound. Jimmy Webb, whose ‘Wichita Lineman’ and ‘The Moon's A Harsh Mistress’ both featured on the 2013 album, is represented here by ‘Up, Up And Away’, whose huge, block-like slabs of sound and rhythmic juxtapositions suggest a close kinship with Loose Tubes.