Michael Bublé - Love (2018)

Love (the cover has only a heart signifying the disc's title), is Michael Bublé's first album since his very young son, Noah, has gone into remission during his hard fought battle with liver cancer.

Love is another of Bublé's perfectly executed collections of songs and the album's title is a brief, but accurate, moniker for the disc's theme. On this, his tenth release, the Canadian star has proven again that he is today's most important purveyor of the Great American Songbook. No one else comes close.

The eleven tracks feature big band arrangements, full blown orchestras, and small groups. Much of it is swinging. "Such A Night" is high octane, big band, jazz at it's finest and "I Only Have Eyes For You" sounds like Nelson Riddle backing Frank Sinatra.

Bublé does great justice to "La Vie en Rose." He receives important assists from a sad violin that conjures up images of a Parisian sidewalk café and from a Grammy winning jazz singer, Cécile McLorin Salvant, an American now living in France. They make this track appropriately old fashioned and surprisingly effective.

"When Your Smiling," a song long associated with Judy Garland, is another upbeat, swinging affair that has call and response backing vocals, a common musical device used in the 1940s by the big bands.

As always, because Bublé is not entirely stuck in an era that his grandmother should know he adds a few modern tunes to every record such as the one song on which he shares a composing credit. On "Forever Now," he is backed only by a solo, acoustic piano. Here, he gets to show off his perfectly smooth voice, totally unencumbered by an arrangement.

"My Funny Valentine" has quite a lush setting, the kind of production that David Foster, his long time producer, has always excelled at. He's perfectly suited to work with an artist like Bublé.

"Unforgettable" may not be as unforgettable as Nat King Cole's classic hit but you'll probably love this version too.

It has been written that this set of songs is in direct contrast to the tough times Bublé and his family have been going through the last couple of years. That assessment couldn't be more accurate and that is a good thing for both the singer and his fans. It's one of the reasons that Love is among Bublé's best work.

Bublé's website can be found here.