New York-based pop singer Chris Ruggiero has just released his appropriately entitled album, “I Am Chris Ruggiero” and we are in love with the sounds on this disc. The singer has taken 13 classic songs and completely re-imagined them with the help of legendary arranger Charlie Calello. Ruggiero says he long-admired Calello, who has worked with the likes of Frank Sinatra, Frankie Valli, Barbra Streisand, Neil Diamon, Juice Newton, Barry Manilow and Paul Anka, to name a few. Calello indicates the admiration is now mutual. “It’s been a long time since I’ve heard a voice like this,” says Calello. Together, they created an album of which Calello says he is immensely proud.
The album contains songs that were originally released in the 50s, 60s and 70s but Ruggiero deems to be “timeless.” Among our favorites are “Put Your Head on My Shoulder,” which Ruggiero gave a smoother, jazzier treatment including a 21-piece orchestra. “We moved away from the 50s doo wopp feel of the original but the strings, the clarinets, the flutes and the brass still gave it the gravity that it deserved,” explains the singer. “These songs have a lot of meaning to people, so there was no way we weren’t going to go big when it came to the orchestrations.” The Philly soul classic “Betcha By Golly Wow” got a silky smooth make-over that could easily underscore the love affair in a major motion picture. Chris’s vocal on “My Cherie Amour” makes it sound like the song had been written just for him and the masterful instrumental jam featuring an exhilarating sax solo takes it to another level. The disc closes with “This Magic Moment” featuring only a guitar, violins, a viola, a cello and Chris Ruggiero’s tenor voice slipping in and out of falsetto in way that one might associate more with Bruno Mars or Shawn Mendes than with the artists who previously charted this song.
Chris’s CDs are available on his website and on most platforms where digital downloads are available for purchase (including iTunes and Amazon Music.)
https://music.apple.com/us/artist/chris-ruggiero/956271838
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