Frank Sinatra, Harry Connick Jr, Herbie Hancock, Sammy Davis Jnr, Mel Torme, Buddy Greco, Matt Monro, Dean Martin, Jack Jones, Paul Carrack, Bobby Darin, Jazz, Lounge, Easy Listening
Sounds Like
Frank Sinatra, Harry connick jr, Matt monro, Jack Jones
The first thing that gets you is the voice, immediately the voice. It is smooth and sensual, sexy even, and so very self-assured. On ‘Traditional’, the infectious lead track from his second album it becomes clear that Peter Grant is not only a man out of time, but that he might just be something of a future master. It is a patently ridiculous thing to suggest, of course, of a man just 20 years old, but Grant prompts within the listener much the same reaction they had upon first hearing, say, Jamie Cullum, or even his own personal hero Harry Connick Jr. It's that good. He's already comfortably established himself, his debut album ‘New Vintage’ having debuted at number eight last year, sold over 100,000 copies - but now he is ready for the next stage. He has been preparing for this all his life, after all.
His second album is a mixture of songs old and new, but it's the new ones that will really come to define him. Take the aforementioned ‘Traditional’, which, for a jazz number, is anything but, its lyrical thrust slyly suggesting "The most you expect is a sex in a text/Non-stop hip-hop, all-night love shops", in a manner that takes the genre by the horns and brings it abruptly into 2007, so very youthful and alive. As Grant will tell you himself, this is "a really contemporary record. There are some great grooves here, and a lot of natural funk. What I've tried to do with this album is cross the classic sound of easy listening and jazz with a much younger edge."
‘And now here comes a young Yorkshire-born singer whose stage act bears an uncanny resemblance to Connick's. Just as the American seemed mature beyond his years, so Peter Grant has the confidence of an artist who has paid his dues. It may not be long before the newcomer is provoking his very own brand of teen-mania’…….The Times
Tony Hatch, the songwriter of Joanna, called Grant's version "simply outstanding."
Jimmy Webb, the author of Didn't We, suggested that, "it's so refreshing to encounter a young performer with style, passion and the sense of what makes up the perfect arrangement."
Don Black, writer of Walk Away, said, "Peter has come across like a much-needed breath of fresh air. He doesn't just sing songs, he lives them."
