Cloud 7

Up to the release of this album in 1955, Bennet was mostly known for commercial pop music. This record however saw him shift into more a jazzy style. Cloud 7 is a very focused album filled with introspective, love-filled songs which most of the time remain very calm, leaving much space for Bennet's bright and soft voice to shine. And man does he sell these songs, embracing his role of a man longing for a significant other. Doing this, he's backed up by Chuck Wayne on guitar (who also arranged the whole thing) and Charles Panely who contributes some well placed trumpet solos. In its focused approach and lyrical cohesion, one might call 'Cloud 7' one of the earliest forms of a concept album, preceding Frank Sinatras 'In the wee small hours' by a few months. Though its not free from sounding a bit one dimensional over its play time, a short coming many vocal jazz records of this era have.