| Jazz |
Peter Campbell, a Singular Voice in the World of Jazz.
Peter Campbell is the kind of singer who seems to have stepped out of another time, an era when a tuxedo was not a costume but a uniform, and when a voice alone could command a room. His new album, Haunted Melody, extends that impression, but without lapsing into nostalgia or pastiche. Instead, it creates a world of its own: warm, sympathetic, and crafted with an intelligence that reveals Campbell not only as a vocalist but also as a producer of rare subtlety. The arrangements, co-sculpted with celebrated Canadian guitarist Reg Schwager, demonstrate a deft balance of elegance and invention, proof that Campbell is as attentive to architecture as he is to atmosphere.
The project is enriched by a cast of remarkable collaborators. Alongside Schwager’s luminous guitar lines, the album features contributions from American saxophonist Joel Frahm and Portuguese composer-producer Ernesto Leite, placing Campbell at the intersection of several musical traditions. Yet the record carries a deeply personal weight. Its delayed release follows the death of Campbell’s parents in 2024, the recent end of a long relationship, and his return to Canada after years abroad. Those experiences lend the music an emotional resonance that extends far beyond technical achievement.
What makes Campbell remarkable is his ability to impose a personal style while working with material that resists easy categorization. He moves through an eclectic repertoire with playful authority, interpreting songs as if offering each composer the best of his artistry.
Born during our collective period of isolation, Haunted Melody reflects on the memory of a past romance while weaving together a rich palette of musical colors. The inclusion of three Brazilian compositions speaks to Campbell’s residency in Portugal, where immersion in Lusophone culture encouraged him to explore Brazilian rhythms and Portuguese lyricism with unusual depth. The result is a sound he aptly characterizes as “Traditional Pop”, a fluid blend of jazz standards, French chanson, and Latin-inflected grooves.
Campbell’s tenor voice further distinguishes him. Typically associated with other musical idioms, it here melds seamlessly into a form of jazz that is both generous and openhearted, capable of reaching well beyond traditional jazz audiences. This is not his first time drawing critical notice: his 2017 release Loving You: Celebrating Shirley Horn was hailed by Canadian and international critics alike, earning spots on several “best jazz albums” lists and a nomination for Best Jazz Vocal Album at the Independent Music Awards. His 2020 recording Old Flames Never Die achieved similar acclaim, with JazzTimes devoting an editorial feature to it and ranking it among the top 40 jazz releases of the year, an especially rare honor for a Canadian production and for a vocal jazz record.
What, then, does Haunted Melody offer listeners today? For one, it reminds us that nostalgia can be reframed not as sentimentality but as a mode of discovery. Campbell’s music evokes the sepia-toned photographs we stumble upon in attic boxes, reminders not of what has been lost, but of the beauty still accessible when the past and present are allowed to speak to one another. For those who find pleasure in that kind of dialogue, between eras, between genres, between memory and reinvention, Campbell’s latest album will prove a rare and rewarding companion.
Thierry De Clemensat
Member at Jazz Journalists Association
USA correspondent for Paris-Move and ABS magazine
Editor in chief – Bayou Blue Radio, Bayou Blue News
PARIS-MOVE, August 27th 2025
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Musicians :
Peter Campbell – Vocals
Kevin Turcotte – Trumpet, Flugelhorn
Bill McBirnie – Flute, Alto Flute
Joel Frahm – Tenor Saxophone
Adrean Farrugia – Piano, Fender Rhodes
Reg Schwager – Archtop and Nylon String Guitar
Michael Occhipinti – Electric Guitar, Cuatro Puertorriqueño (5), Mandolin (7)
Ross MacIntyre – Bass
Ethan Ardelli – Drums
Alan Hetherington – Percussion
Ernesto Leite – Orchestral Programming & Percussion Programming (10)
John ‘Beetle’ Bailey – Drum Programming (6)
Track Listing:
Sweetest Presence
Lost in Summer Night
My Mood Is You
No One After
He Never Mentioned Love
Invitation
Song for Old Lovers
I’m Lost
Forgetting You
If Ever