For many people the Hollywood born Curtis Stigers will always remain the singer of the big pop hit I Wonder Why. But the vocalist, who during the nineties lived up to his reputation as a heartbreaker, has been strictly following his jazz heart for a while now. The new course was launched in 2001 with Baby Plays Around, an album full of well-known jazz standards. Pretty soon it was followed by jazz albums like Secret Heart (2002), You Inspire Me (2003) and I Think It's Going to Rain Today (2005), which resulted in a lot of recognition for the singer/sax player with the remarkable voice that just like the saxophone has a growling quality to it. It's striking that he prefers the singer/songwriter repertoire to the every day jazz standard. This also goes for the new CD Real Emotional that features his collaboration with the renowned keyboardist and organ player Larry Goldings. Stigers sings songs by Tom Waits, Bob Dylan, Paul Simon and Randy Newman among others.
