Erik Leuthäuser, Alan Broadbent, Steve La Spina, Rich DeRosa, Allen Farnham, Ken Peplowski - Quality Time in NYC (2025) [24/88]

Sometimes the stars are aligned particularly favorably, as was the case in smoothing the way to produce this album. Formally, this consists of two blocks. However, they blend seamlessly into a coherent whole. Both sessions took place just a few days apart in the same studio outside Manhattan. With both of them, a dream came true for the German exceptional vocalist Erik Leuthäuser in two respects. He met highly regarded and experienced instrumentalists of the US mainstream jazz scene in the context of paying tribute to grandiose representatives of classical American jazz vocal art: Susannah McCorkle and Irene Kral.

Anyone who has had Erik Leuthäuser on their radar for a long time will not be surprised by this set-up. "In The Land of Oo-Bla-Dee", his album debut released ten years ago, you can hear the fresh, adorable bop statement of a great jazz vocal talent with original lyrics. As it has become apparent over the years, the singer, who grew up in the small Saxon town of Freital, has surprisingly different aspects. Multi-layered albums such as "Wishes" and – most recently – "Addiction" were created after he moved to the metropolis of Berlin. They testified to rapid personal development and an exuberant desire for limitlessness, including stylistically. In between, several classic, intimate cabaret jazz-style song albums were released: soulful tributes to the magical voice/piano duo Irene Kral/Alan Broadbent and to the song masters Kent Carlson and Ronny Whyte.

In other words, familiar terrain, to which Leuthäuser returns once again with "Quality Time in NYC". Two different worlds? "I do what I care about. I really consider myself as a jazz singer. That's what I've always loved and why I wanted to be a singer. This will and must always be what I am. This also means interpreting material that is older, i.e., standards, songs that fit into the Great American Songbook. On the other hand, I compose my own music, in which there are not only jazz influences. The jazz vocal background influences how I compose songs."

The pure, completely classic form of "Quality Time in NYC" was in the nature of the two-part project. Originally, Erik Leuthäuser simply wanted to make an album in honor of Susannah McCorkle and her work. "She's one of my absolute favorite singers!" he raved. Like Irene Kral, the American is not one of those to whom too many singers refer. For Leuthäuser, another argument is to follow his heart. "I'm always curious. I am interested in the less common. I'm always looking for a repertoire that hasn't been sung by very many others." The timing for such plans was far from ideal in terms of the general conditions. In the spring of 2021, the limitations of the pandemic continued to cause cultural standstill in many places. Today, the singer has realized: "This album would probably not have existed without the pandemic." Because even in the USA, most musicians had little to do and consequently time for special projects. Although no concerts were allowed to take place, studio work was possible in principle.

The singer dared something that seemed illusory. He wrote to some of those musicians who had accompanied Susannah McCorkle on several occasions (she had taken her own life in 2001), including renowned greats such as Allen Farnham (p) and Ken Peplowski (ts, cl). The feedback was overwhelming! "I was very surprised by the quick positive answers and that it just possible!" He brought a specialist for music of this kind on board with soundman David Kowalski. His studio is located a few kilometers from Manhattan in New Jersey. His input proved to be enormously valuable in several ways. He became a kind of consultant.

When selecting songs, Erik Leuthäuser followed his own feelings: “I chose the ones that touched me the most and gave me the most pleasure in McCorkle's interpretations.” When he was in the middle of the preparations, pianist Alan Broadbent got in touch to thank him for the sung greeting on his 74th birthday. Leuthäuser took this as a sign of fate. "I brazenly asked him if we wanted to go to the studio together as a continuation of my tribute album for Irene Kral and him, which I had recorded a few years earlier." Broadbent agreed. They arranged an appointment five days after the session in honor of Susannah McCorkle.

Leuthäuser visited another hero of his in New York: Singer, pianist and songwriter Ronny Whyte, to whom he had also honored with a tribute production (Whyte died on August 19, 2025). On "Quality Time in NYC", you can hear how perfectly the two sessions intertwine in terms of content, feeling, interpretative quality and sound. Leuthäuser shines again as a sensitive, often deeply romantic interpreter. The connection to the significantly older co-musicians could not have been closer. You can feel the common spirit in the duo as well as in the band, guided by the song templates of McCorkle and Kral. At the same time, the accumulated experience was reflected. "These musicians are so good that if you're professional, you can quickly find a way to make it flow."

At the heart of everything: the songs, from the stone-softening "Where Is Love" to "I'm Through With Love" and "Rain Sometimes" to McCorkle's deeply touching "Scars". Following in the footsteps of the honored co-musicians, the vocalist delved deep into the songs: their lyrics, melody, and attitude. He does this so much that in some songs he exchanges the "she" of the original for a "he" and thus intensifies the bond with his personal life and feelings. Storytelling not as a nostalgic practice, but in the here and now. "I may be a bit old-fashioned in my taste of music," Leuthäuser said. "But I find a lot of contemporary things in these songs."

"Quality Time in NYC" – the title can be taken literally in every respect.

Tracklist:
01 Where Is Love
02 My Ideal
03 Day by Day
04 The Right to Love
05 My Heart Tells Me
06 I Just Can't Wait to See You
07 I'm Through with Love
08 Someday I'll Find You
09 That Ole Devil Called Love
10 Quality Time
11 The People That You Never Get to Love
12 Rain Sometimes
13 Evolution
14 Where Do You Start
15 Down
16 Feet Do Your Stuff
17 Scars
18 I'm Pulling Through
19 Little Willie Leaps


Thanks to the Original customer!