The crooner who jazzes it up
‘‘My upbringing is jazz listening to my dad’s records in Whakata¯ne. You do look back and think that was pretty influential.’’ Steve Carlin
A karaoke version of Mack the Knife at a Courtenay Place bar may well have set Steve Carlin on a path to becoming one of New Zealand’s leading crooners.
The Greytown singer has been a part of the Wellington music scene for many years, but in the last decade or so he has charted his own course with a classic 1950s jazz sound.
The 49-year-old is about to release an album of big band swing tracks that pays homage to its Rat Pack roots, while simultaneously being infused with a host of Kiwi contributions.
As a drummer and vocalist with well-known Wellington band Uncle Monkey for 25 years, Carlin kind of stumbled into the jazzy crooner style.
He was at Wellington bar The Establishment in 2007 when he belted out his interpretation of the beloved cabaret tune Mack the Knife.
One of his friends was seriously impressed and asked him to perform in that style at their Saatchi & Saatchi Christmas function. It was a hit with the audience and started Carlin thinking about possibilities.
He clearly remembers he was in Rio de Janeiro staying at the aptly named The Girl from Ipanema hostel when he decided he wanted to create an act.
‘‘I thought I’m going to do some cabaret shows because in Wellington you couldn’t go out and hear some guy singing Frank Sinatra or Dean Martin stuff.’’
He knew his baritone voice suited the crooner vibe, and it was a style he had loved since youth. ‘‘My upbringing is jazz listening to my dad’s records in Whakata¯ ne. You do look back and think that was pretty influential.’’
One of his favourite albums growing up was by the Glenn Miller Orchestra which sits alongside Led Zeppelin in his record collection.
His own album has been two years in the making.
He knew he needed a band with fantastic jazz chops, so Carlin enlisted one of the best in the business – Wellington’s The Rodger Fox Big Band.
The album they produced entitled All you need is me is no Michael Bublestyle Frank Sinatra tribute.
It’s a blend of Kiwi-penned songs, well-known tracks made famous by Norah Jones, Nina Simone and Amy Winehouse and Carlin’s own writing.
He composed the title track himself, which he came up with while on a drive from Hawke’s Bay to Wairarapa.
New Zealand songwriter Jim Hall has writing credits on three of the songs, one of which – There’s a blue sky waiting for me – was in a popular television advertisement for insurance in the 2000s.
A big contributor to the album was Wellington multi-instrumentalist Bryn van Vliet who worked with Carlin to write the arrangements for the songs.
‘‘I can’t praise him highly enough – he’s such a talent,’’ Carlin said.
Van Vliet also penned one of the songs on the album, I would only have eyes for you.
The tracks were recorded at the Victoria University of Wellington School of Music’s studio. Then mixed and mastered by Los Angeles-based Grammy award-winning music engineer Talley Sherwood.
Greytown photographer Rebecca Kempton took the timeless album cover shots at Greytown’s historic Woodside Station.
The album is set for release on July 1. Carlin will be performing a release concert with the Rodger Fox Big Band at the Carterton Events Centre on Friday, July 9.