Now & Again

“Now & Again plays out like some lost Hollywood or Tin Pan Alley songbook, simultaneously bringing to mind icons like Burt Bacharach, Randy Newman, James Taylor, Fats Waller, and Frank Sinatra. With simply structured piano backing his singing, Crandal instantly becomes an amalgam of classic crooners. His voice has the arresting power of Etta James, the smoothness of Kurt Elling, and the personality of a Bacharach or Sinatra. He’s diverse too, moving easily from the impassioned blues mood of “Bad Storm Comin’ In” to the regal title track, which unfolds with lovelorn, cinematic drama.” —Bryan Rodgers, music journalist; Rating: 4 stars (out of 5) Familiar songs are powerful forces in our lives. They calm, excite, remind us of the past and become part of our future. Great melodies sound like they’ve always been around — like trees or mountains or sunshine. When I compose, I come from the frame of mind that the music I’m writing down has already been written and I’m just transcribing it. It’s like sitting in front of a tree and sketching it and then sharing my sketch with others. I’ve always liked to just sit down at the piano and mess around — see what comes out. That’s what I did with the songs on this album — most of the basic melodies were “transcribed” rather quickly and then honed into a structure with Nancy’s timeless writing style. The ways lovers interact are fascinating and infinite. Perhaps music is the best way to capture the way these interactions feel. A wide range of love (and love lost) is captured in these songs. My hope is that you'll feel your past reflected in some of these songs and that they'll stay with you through the years. — Scot Crandal, composer, pianist and singer My love of words and music began in early childhood, with parents who introduced me to the joys of reading, writing, and listening. My father was a musician who came of age during the Big Band Era and played piano in a dance band into his 80s. I was raised on the jazz standards of the Great American Songbook: the sophistication and wit of Cole Porter, the heartbeat of Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett, the soul of Ella Fitzgerald, and the genius of the other legendary songwriters, vocalists, and instrumentalists who still speak to us today. It is fitting that Scot and I met while performing in a Portland Opera production – another form of musical storytelling that marries lyrics and music to stunning effect. Our aim in this album is to pay homage to that old standby, the love song. We wanted to capture the varied moods and styles of the time-honored classics, while also expressing some of the fresh ideas of today. We hope that in listening, you are reminded of past and present loves and that you experience that old feeling – both now and again. — Nancy Jerrick, lyricist Five percent of all sale proceeds will be donated to PHAME, a fine arts academy for developmentally disabled adults: www.phameacademy.org