The latest vocalist CD from Broadway Records that’s come my way over the last week or so is the debut album from Alexa Green, So Good. I’ve never heard of her, but the press release from the Record Company bills her as follows... "Alexa Green's debut album comes directly from the soul of the artist. A tasteful and timeless blend of pop styling rooted in musical theatre, So Good uniquely navigates its way through the American Songbook leaving us in anticipation for more. Alexa's extraordinary talent adds that special something to these songs allowing us to realize that life is so good.

Best known for her turn as Glinda in the Los Angeles and San Francisco companies of Wicked, and seen on PBS in Company starring Neil Patrick Harris and Patti LuPone, Alexa has toured both nationally and internationally as an actor and singer, known for her wide vocal range and dramatic musical flexibility".

It’s always brave to kick off an album with a Streisand classic, and brave is certainly a term I’d use to describe the first track here, the wonderful Legrand & Bergman(s) classics ‘A Piece of Sky’ from Yentl. It’s such a wonderful number, and perhaps one of my favourite Barbra numbers. It’s delivered here with commitment, but I think it was perhaps the wrong song to lead with, although it has a worthy place on the album. The second number, a very clever New York Medley certainly works much better, and was the best number for me on the album - and I think should have led.

However, it ended with the Billy Joel classic 'New York State of Mind'. No bad thing you may say, and I would agree. But, and for me it’s a but that spoiled much of the album for me, Green insists on riffing at the end in the high registers. I’m not sure who’s told her that it sounds good, or that it should be used all over the place, but it’s not a pleasant sound. A wide vocal range is much more than being able to hit the notes. It’s about making them sound well placed, supported and, well, pleasant. This, in my opinion, doesn’t.

There are some lovely, under-rated songs on this album, such as 'Being Good Isn’t Good Enough' from the Jule Styne and Comden & Green musical Hallelujah Baby which for the main sounds great (apart from the last 10 seconds). The last ‘official’ track on the album 'Casanova Brown' also starts off sounding outstanding, but unfortunately the range then goes out of the window again, and it’s, well, not ‘So Good’.

Kudos to the arranger, Dylan Glatthorn, who as well as arranging the songs into some clever medleys (the final bonus track is very clever, and I enjoyed it more than a lot of the others on the album) also penned some nice orchestrations. And of course, the design by Robbie Rozelle and the overall product is top notch - Broadway Records really have this nailed now.

I just wish the content, for me, had been worth it.

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Ian Gude