“Hallelujah” is not just the name of one of the tracks (it’s the Leonard Cohen song also picked by Euan Morton) but a reaction to the brave, honest singing on Jeffrey Wilgus’ Signature. What a pleasure to hear this kind of emotionally naked performance that rarely feels self-indulgent. Singing strongly but revealing a very vulnerable soul via “Corner of the Sky” (Pippin), Paul Simon’s “America,” Jason Robert Brown’s “Someone to Fall Back On,” two Boy George songs, and two he co-wrote, Jeffrey’s work is often moving and gripping. Both grit and grace come through on the CD by this rock-tinged vocalist, a recent entrant in New York cabaret.

Producer/arranger/pianist Haim Cotton pulls together a solid, contemporary-sounding album with 11 musicians. Treatments, tempi, and interpretations of the best known songs don’t always escape the shadow of their “forefathers” to reek of original ideas, but are done with integrity and feeling.

Rob Lester
Cabaret Scenes
May 2008
www.cabaretscenes.org