Detour

Revered guitarist and vocalist Boz Scaggs has just release a new studio album, "Detour". His 1st record since 2018’s "Out Of The Blues", this new material was a long time coming.

“I had no intention of making a record when I started singing these songs”, says Scaggs in a statement. “It was all very casual at first, just an opportunity to explore a style of music I’ve always liked, to get together with a friend and play for the sheer joy of it”.

That friend is pianist Seth Asarnow, and their informal sessions together became the heart of "Detour". What started as a series of personal demos for Scaggs to expand his vocal stylings soon revealed something magical. The performances and arrangements were undeniable, demanding to be shared with the world. The result is a masterclass in interpretation, an eclectic mix of the familiar and the obscure that tips its hat to Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald as gracefully as it does to Irma Thomas and Lonnie Johnson. It is an elegant reimagining of old favorites and new discoveries, delivered with both reverence and a fresh perspective.

On "Detour", Scaggs puts his essential instrument on full display. “If I look at myself as a musician over the years, I’d have to consider my primary instrument to be my voice”, he says. That voice has only gained nuance and depth, evident from the gentle tone of the album opener, Allen Toussaint’s “It’s Raining”, to a serene version of “The Very Thought Of You” that feels both timeless and contemporary. The project even led him to revisit “I’ll Be Long Gone” at the suggestion of pianist Seth Asarnow. “I get a lot of requests for it”, Scaggs explains, “he put together this beautiful arrangement, it ended up falling in perfectly with everything else we did for this album”.