Secret Heart is a very good vocal-jazz album and an important record in Curtis Stigers' transition from early-1990s pop singer to a sophisticated jazz vocalist and saxophonist. It was released by Concord Records in 2002 and runs for about 55 minutes.

🎵 What's on it?

The album mixes jazz standards, blues, contemporary songs and Stigers originals:

How Could a Man Take Such a Fall – Stigers original, and a witty reflection on his fall from pop stardom.

It's So Hard Living Without You – Randy Newman; melancholy and beautifully understated.

The Days of Wine and Roses – classic Mercer/Mancini ballad.

Hometown Blues – Steve Earle; country/blues influence.

My Foolish Heart – one of the album's great slow ballads.

You're Driving Me Crazy – upbeat, swinging jazz.

Secret Heart – Ron Sexsmith's sophisticated title song.

Down With Love – Cole Porter/Harold Arlen material with a playful jazz treatment.

Swingin' Down at 10th & Main – another Stigers original, celebrating his Boise roots.

Sweet Kentucky Ham – Dave Frishberg's humorous, characterful song.

You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To – Cole Porter standard.

Body and Soul – the closing ballad, given a particularly tender treatment.

🎷 The musicians

The supporting band is excellent: Larry Goldings on piano, John Clayton on bass, Jeff Hamilton on drums, Anthony Wilson on guitar and Gilbert Castellanos on trumpet, with Stigers himself playing tenor saxophone. The album was recorded at Capitol Studio B in Hollywood in October 2001.

⭐ How good is it?

I'd put this among Stigers' strongest albums. The appeal is his voice: deep, slightly husky and mature, but still capable of considerable warmth. He doesn't simply sing standards like a traditional crooner—he phrases them like a jazz musician.

JazzTimes was particularly enthusiastic, describing the album as evidence that Stigers was ready to join the ranks of serious male jazz singers, and singled out “My Foolish Heart” and “Body and Soul” for their tenderness.

There's also a nice mixture of moods. “How Could a Man Take Such a Fall” is self-deprecating and funny, while “It's So Hard Living Without You,” “My Foolish Heart” and “Body and Soul” provide the emotional heart of the record.

💿 CD collector's note

The standard US Concord release is CCD-2124-2. There are also international editions; notably, the Japanese Victor release VICJ-60898 adds “That Old Feeling” as a 13th track, making it particularly interesting to collectors.

My rating: 8.5/10.

If you like Harry Connick Jr., John Pizzarelli, Michael Bublé's jazzier material, Mark Murphy or sophisticated vocal jazz, this is well worth having. In fact, I'd choose Secret Heart over Stigers' original 1991 pop album if you're looking for the more musically interesting and enduring record.