The Fountain

Album Review

If Chet Delcampo were a jazz saxophonist instead of a pop-rock artist, he would end up being compared to Gerry Mulligan or Paul Desmond instead of Willis Jackson, Houston Person or Booker Ervin. That's because Delcampo, like the artists of jazz's Cool School, knows how effective subtlety can be—and he uses it to full advantage on his promising debut album, The Fountain. There are many adjectives that can be used to describe this CD—moody, understated, wistful, intimate and melancholy are some of the ones that immediately come to mind. But no one will call The Fountain the work of a belter because Delcampo is anything but. The Philadelphia-based singer/songwriter favors a soft, hushed, gentle style of singing, and tracks like "Aglow," "Coffee With Tom T. Hall" (which doesn't sound anything like the famous country singer) and "Train Station" are so subtle that they could easily fade into the background if you're distracted. But The Fountain is way too substantial to serve as mere background music. Listeners would do well to turn up the volume, give Delcampo their full, undivided attention and find out for themselves just how captivating an album The Fountain is.