Album Review: Dear Mr. Jones Sends Us A Dear John Album & We Still Swoon For Him With I THINK WE SHOULD SEE OTHER PEOPLE

Heigh Ho, dear lovely rainbow tribe, welcome back to Bobby’s CD sandbox where we offer our broken-down breakdowns of new music releases. So, strap in and get ready, as Bobby goes on the record ABOUT the record.

This week’s album entry in the BobbyFiles comes from that Master Man of Cabaret, Ben Jones, who just last week (September 29th) released his live album I THINK WE SHOULD SEE OTHER PEOPLE.  Check out this timeline, dear Bobby fans:  Ben Jones was new to town and new to cabaret and singing in Scott Siegel’s various productions.  In 2021, Mr. Jones was nominated for a Broadway World Award in the Cabaret division (for BEST ENSEMBLE SOLOIST), an award for which he was proclaimed the winner in January 2022.  Only one little month later, Jones presented his solo show debut to rave reviews. Six months later, Ben premiered his second musical cabaret, yet again, to rave reviews.  Six weeks later, Ben Jones played The Cabaret Convention for the first time.  That’s all in 2022!  Come 2023, Ben Jones wasn’t just playing both of his cabaret shows around New York City, he was touring the country with them and selling out in markets where people didn’t know him - meaning he wasn’t playing to NYC rooms full of family, friends, artist’s comps and freeloaders of the press, like Little Bobby sitting in the back sipping soda. These full houses were full of strangers in Nightclub rooms points west of here.  Now, thanks to that concert tour, Ben Jones has this new work of art, this new accomplishment, this new laurel, if you will, to hang on his resume - and in 17 days, Mr. J will return for his second consecutive year at the cabaret convention.  All of that happened in just twenty months.  PHEW!

The album I THINK WE SHOULD SEE OTHER PEOPLE is a recording of the second of Ben’s shows.  The first one I THINK I’M IN LOVE is a sweet night of love songs sung within an inch of their lives, while the second one I THINK WE SHOULD… is a bitingly humorous evening of breakup songs.  The love song show is very good but the breakup show is more interesting, which is probably why Ben and Ron Abel (his musical companion in all things) chose to document this second act in the pair.  The album was recorded over time in various clubs in America (specifically, four different rooms), with bits and pieces melded together from this city or that city, including his talkie bits to string together the story, as well as bring to listeners one of the keys to Ben’s success in cabaret, his perfectly wonderful sardonic humor, dry wit, and deadpan delivery - all delicious.  The album (which Jones self-produced on his own label) manages to totally capture the spirit of the show without giving away some key elements and dialogue that really should be experienced in the room, all the while giving listeners a chance to hear that Ben Jones voice in all its glory.  It is a real boon to all of the fans - the ones who already exist, and the converts who converted after their first listen.  Jones and Musical Director Abel have scored a hit, both artistic and technical with this disc.

But, dearlings all, let us talk about the important part:  The Music.
 

Interspersed with the snippets of Ben’s monologues about breaking up and seeing other people are a variety of genres that Mr. J. seems to take no extra effort at bending to, from the iconic Eighties pop song TAINTED LOVE (gay gasp! The arrangement!) to the essential Joni Mitchell classic A CASE OF YOU (sigh, the heartbreak of beauty), and, of course, the oft-employed musical theater and opera actor has to include plenty of Jerry Herman (an exquisite KISS HER NOW), Lin-Manuel Miranda (WELCOME BACK) and one of the highlights of seeing the show in person or hearing it digitally, a CITY OF ANGELS/FOLLIES medley that will absolutely blow your absolute minds, my dear ones - As In BOOOOOM!  Ben Jones is the purveyor of a vocal prowess that continues to impress us, even after multiple years and multiple shows.  The technique required to do the things that he does with his voice is indicative of years of training, and that is on top of the simple fact of what a pretty sound comes from the instrument of his birth.  It’s a privilege to listen to Ben, on every recording, in every show, and even just when he is engaged in the act of saying his cheeky tongue-in-cheek dialogue.  Obviously, it’s better to be there in person because you get the sheer wonder of hearing just how powerful (WHEN I WAS YOUR MAN) or how wistful (IN THE WEE SMALL HOURS OF THE MORNING) he can make his voice.  But until he gets to your town (or a town near you) so you can hear him live, this album is a great way to get your fix from a singer you’re sure to be hooked on.  

Little Bobby has to pick a couple of favorites on the album, starting with the hilarious (and naughty - wink) SENSITIVE SONG, delivered so sincerely that the audience screams with laughter, then doing a one-eighty to the tender and tear-inducing KILLING TIME, that is going to end up on everyone’s playlist of favorites, so understated and contained is it, inside of the beauty of voice and emotion.  These two cuts show the wide range of Ben Jones’ talent as an actor and a singer, but also two of the many facets that make him such a special performer.  TBH, friends, while listening to the album straight-through on the first go-round, Bobby got a little thrill, hearing Ben Jones start his show in Los Angeles and end it in Chicago - it was a sort of audible indication of how far he has come in so short a time.

In all, dear Bobby Readers, I THINK WE SHOULD SEE OTHER PEOPLE is one of the albums out this year that we will be going back to again and again, and we believe that everyone else will, too, which is why we have to give it a hearty…

5 Out Of 5 Rainbows

NOTE: This album is designated Explicit

Jump In The Amazon And Fish This One Out: HERE
 

Stream This One On Your Spotifies: HERE
 

You Can See And Hear Everything About Mr. Jones On His Webbysite: HERE

Ben Jones will be at Birdland for THE LINEUP WITH Susie Mosher ON October 3rd at 8:30 pm

He will be at Feinstein's at The Nikko in San Francisco on October 6th and 7th at 8 pm.

Ben will appear at Feinstein's at Hotel Carmichael in Carmel, IN, at 7:30 pm on October 14th.

Mr. Jones will perform at Blue Strawberry at 8 pm in St. Louis, MO, on October 1th.

Ben will play his Sinatra tribute show LET ME BE FRANK on December 4th.

All these dates and more can be found on the Ben Jones website, including links for tickets.

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