TJA Album Musicians & Credits:

Bryan Ferry> Director & Co Producer
No musical credits!
Colin Good> Piano & Arrangements

Is TJA really a 'Bryan Ferry' album??

Not really, given that for some 40 years BF has performed first and foremost as a vocalist (with some piano and a wee bit of guitar thrown into the mix).

Yes Colin Good is the primary musical director of TJA, but I think BF was closely involved in crafting the sound and arrangements. That said, this is not a Bryan Ferry album. It is a Bryan Ferry ORCHESTRA album.

From listening to what's been made available on the web (including snippets of all the tracks on iTunes) I'm looking forward to buying the album. Personally I'm more drawn to the slower material like (especially) TIE, but even the faster tempo tunes appear to avoid a "novelty" sound that won't hold up over repeated listenings.

Completely agree dcj on all counts

He did compose the songs.

yes, he did compose the songs. he is now re-interpreting them in a different way.

instead of re-recording them in a different way like 2hb etc on let's stick together, he has assembled a team of musician's to re-interpret them in a very specific style - 20's jazz.

i personally don't think it matters a jot that he isn't actually performing on it. he is producing it & directing it, and as such it is credited to 'the bryan ferry orchestra'.

i think it's a brilliant idea, very clever & original, and i think it proves that bf is still at the cutting edge of music as a relevant artist...

It's a fun thing, and should be looked upon as such. Name me one of his peers, with such a back catalogue, that has the vision to enter into such an excercise. If you don't think you will like it, don't buy it. I don't know if I will like it, but I will buy it. It's Bryan Ferry.

well, i love it. and they are indeed his songs. but colin is key...but bry had to enable him, and back it. i find i can hold two views quite easily: it's a big time colin g creation, albeit co-creation....and i really like and will buy it.

my wife just quipped that colin has now completely taken over bf, and will gradually eat up the whole back catalogue... but she likes the material too.

This is totally a Bryan Ferry album. It is written, conceived and paid for by Bryan Ferry. Any number of orchestras back in the 20's an 30's were lead by individuals who played no instrument and knew no music. But they had the wallet to put it together.
Bryan is a true artist who has truly moved past the rest of his generation. I had made a suggestion in a previous post that Bryan should do a special edition like the 78's of old and do a 20's styled album. Well it's not 78's but it is what I had in mind. I guess I must have been channelling Bryan with the special edition. It truly a work of art and I signed up for one on day one.
So far the 3 tracks I've heard are wonderful. I can't wait to hear the whole of the rest and I look forward to my special edition. Richard Hamilton would be very proud indeed.

It is unquestionably going to be marketed as a Bryan Ferry album and as far as BMG are concerned it counts as the first of the 3 albums under the new 3-album deal. Which is nice work if you can get it - hire a group of (admittedly talented) musicians to play jazz versions of songs from your back catalogue and it still counts towards your contract. Yes Bryan wrote these songs - in some cases almost 40 years ago. If Clapton booked an orchestra to play "Layla", "Wonderful Tonight" etc would this count as a Clapton album if he neither played nor sung a note on it?

This may be a terrific album and a novel diversion, but a Bryan Ferry album? Do me a favour. I am amazed by how many people seem to think it is. If this were 1999 again and the Ferry vocal chords were in decent shape so that he could front this line up that would be a different matter. But how many retailers will market this as merely Bryan Ferry - The Jazz Age? How many people may buy it on that basis and wonder why the man whose name is above the title doesn't actually appear on it.

Either way,don't encourage him !! We may get more !!
I'm more concerned that no new songs are coming out. ATGB and Dylanesque were not his songs and a big chunk of Olympia and Frantic weren't either. Has he got lazy ? It's easy to regurgitate.