Lyle Lovett: 12th of June

It’s inspiring to learn that after Lyle Lovett’s 10-year hiatus from recording, his quirky, distinctive style of music still entices. Supported by his longtime Large Band, Lovett revels here in his multi-genre mastery of jazz, swing, folk, and country. Vibrant big band jazz dominates the first half, followed by a shift into ballad mode. Split between seven originals and four covers, the album not only showcases his band’s virtuosic versatility but also the eclectic range of his own songwriting prowess. A paean to parenthood (Lovett became a father to twins at age 59), the acoustic title track, encapsulates Lovett’s strengths: tender lyricism shorn of sentimentality, a restrained but emotive voice, and an earned, laconic wisdom that reverberates through his best material. For all of Lyle’s solemnity, we also get a full embrace of his playful side, such as the absurdist humor of the swinging “Pants Is Overrated.” It also must be said that most country singers these days would not kick off their record with an exuberant cover of Horace Silver’s 1959 jazz instrumental “Cookin’ at the Continental,” where the Large Band melds the difference between western swing and hard bop just for starters.