Bluespeak: The Lounge Collection

By GRAHAM REID

(Herald rating: * * * )

Fronted by trumpeter-singer Greg Johnson, now our man in LA wearing his pop-rock hat, Bluespeak parlayed an easy, 3am style of drinking man's ennui-jazz over three albums from the early 90s. Reference points were obvious — Chet Baker, Sinatra — but Johnson and keyboard player Tom Ludvigson wrote pretty cool originals within the constraints of the genre. This 17-track collection scoops up their best dim-light moments and, because they all broadcast on a similar emotional wavelength, this is timeless, user-friendly music which knows its place. Which is on a stool in a barely lit cocktail lounge with a martini glass in hand.

Label: Pagan/EMI