Late 60's crooning and French-style cabaret inspired by Jacques Brel and Scott Walker.

7 MP3 Songs
EASY LISTENING: Crooners/Vocals, EASY LISTENING: Cabaret



Details:
On a fateful day in 2000, Phil Rectra walked into his apartment in Allston, Massachusetts only to hear eerie orchestral sounds playing from the living room. Philâs roommate, Brendan Wood, was listening to Scott 3, arguably the best Scott Walker solo albumâs from the late 60âs. Phil, who had never heard Scott Walker before, was hooked.

Growing up in the early seventies, Phil dined upon the stylistic 40âs that was on his fatherâs reel-to-reel tapes. There was Perry Como, Andy Williams, Tony Bennett, and Maurice Chevalier. But never had he heard such melancholy and poetic crooning until Scott Walker crossed his path.

Three years after hearing âItâs Raining Todayâ for the first time, Phil had assembled a repertoire of Scott Walker and Jacques Brel (who influenced Walker). Drawing from both artists, Phil performed live sets at the Boston Center for the Arts, Arlington Center for the Arts, and Johnny Dâs in Somerville, MA.

In March of 2004, some of those songs ended up on one of Philâs first two CD recordings. âPhil Rectra Sings Brel and Walkerâ is a study in interpretation and expression. Recorded and mixed at Dreamworld Studios in Lynn, MA, Doug Hammer accompanies on the Schimmel grand piano.

Unlike the upbeat pop he grew up on, these songs prove to be moody, dark and intense â best listened to in a quiet roomâ¦