Tell Her for Me by Henry Darragh

13 Feb

Written by Wilbert Sostre
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There are some great male singers in the history of jazz like Louis Armsrong Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett and more recently, Harry Connick Jr., but male jazz singers have always been a minority. Well, there’s a new name to add to the list, talented singer/composer, piano and trombone player, Henry Darragh. Usually, jazz singers prefer to record recognized jazz standards instead of original compositions. Henry Darragh chose the hard way, recording mostly originals on his album, Tell Her for Me.

Tell Her for Me has a perfect balance between swinging tunes like title cut, "Tell Her for Me," and "Hey There," and slower, romantic tunes like "Dream Boxes," "Missing You" and "Everything Happens to Me."

Henry's strength as a composer is his ability to write about situations everyone can identify with. For example, "Regret" is a song about the regrets of being afraid to talk to a woman you like, just to ask yourself later, what if?

"Once in a While" lyrics are another good example. This time the question is “Is that special person thinking about me even if it is just once in a while?” Master trumpet player Carol Morgan plays a great solo on this one.

As a singer, Darragh's voice is similar in tone and phrasing to Harry Connick, Jr. The album also includes the instrumental piece "Early," where everyone has a chance to show their improvisation skills, including Henry Darragh on trombone.

Tell Her for Me is an excellent debut album for this multi-talented singer/musician/composer.