Jack Wood has long been a popular attraction in the Southern California jazz scene. His warm voice and tasteful swinging style have won over many fans due to his classy treatments of classics from the Great American Songbook.

The Gal That Got Away consists of some of Wood’s finest recordings. On several of the numbers he is featured with the Salt Lake City Jazz Orchestra (performing Tom Garvin arrangements) while other selections have him singing swingers and ballads with a combo.

At various times his supporting cast includes altoist Greg Floor, flugelhornist Buddy Childers, guitarists Ron Anthony and Doug MacDonald, and pianist Tom Ranier among others.

1. The Gypsy In My Soul
2. The Gal That Got Away
3. I Will Wait For You
4. Secret Love
5. A Foggy Day
6. The Shadow Of Your Smile
7. Come Rain Or Come Shine
8. A Day In The Life Of A Fool
9. One For My Baby
10. Someone To Watch Over Me

On this dutifully sculpted new recording, Wood opens his set with the low slung finger-snapper The Gypsy In My Soul and the languishing The Gal That Got Away (actually made famous by Judy Garland in A Star Is Born as “The Man That Got Away”), and then we get the pure dreamy gossamer of Michel Legrand’s I Will Wait For You, the playfully flirty Secret Love and the dutiful, rising piano balladry of A Foggy Day.

Next up is the delicately hued The Shadow Of Your Smile and the soulful Come Rain Or Come Shine, and they are in turn backed by the gentle swirls and twirls within A Day In The Life Of A Fool, the album rounding out on the pleasing One For My Baby (inclusive of the late jazz trumpeter, composer and ensemble leader Buddy Childers), coming to a close on the delightful Someone To Watch Over Me.

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