Lulu “She’ll Have To Go“

Squeeze founder, keyboard pounder and celebrity hounder Jools Holland succeeds in packing another of his big-band albums with well-executed tunes (and Walk of Fame cameos) on Moving Out to the Country, his big-band stab at traditional country. As a guy who has explored every traditional, piano-driven style in music, Holland is more than qualified to apply his considerable technique (and slick big band) to country standards -- that’s not a problem. The question is “Do these country standards really need this kind of treatment?“ Moving Out to the Country is no train wrecked collection of songs -- it’s not bad by any means -- it’s just odd, and that odd factor comes from two things. Foremost, the big-band arrangements (that work so well in a jazzy or bluesy milieu) add little to these rarefied country numbers, mostly succeeding in sounding competently busy at their best and, at their worst, a bit overblown. Not at all bad, mind, just a few paces out of step with these (largely) intimate tun