Reflecting the Bay Area’s storied legacy of fostering Jazz vocalists throughout the region, San Jose artist Ed Thompson, known to their fans as Crooner Ed, has been gracing stages and airwaves with their unique style of contemporary easy listening for the majority of their life. Crafting lyrics that read like poetry, delivered through an aural vessel that sits somewhere in between nostalgic and nuanced, their commitment to their craft has inspired countless fans and musicians throughout their career. Their latest single, “I Wish I Knew,” proves a marquee standout in the artist’s robust and storied repertoire, highlighting the emotional depth of his songwriting proclivities, as well as encapsulating the flair of his voice’s natural charisma.
The piece begins as a reverberant piano gracefully sets the tone, and we feel the world of the music being built around us in real time. Thompson’s vocals appear shortly after, and with them, the feelings his music prompts are quickly amplified. Wasting no time getting to the narrative core of the music, his notes echoing as he softly sings the opening line, “I wish I knew how, I wish I knew when, I wish I knew what I could do right now to make you love me.”
The intimate, almost cabaret-style of Thompson’s delivery highlights the versatility of his performable range, as well as his compositional inclinations in countless ways. Expressing feelings that play as larger than life, while still retaining an approachable tenderness and level of vulnerability in his work, the single showcases the passion they pour into every verse they write.
Written by Nick Gumas
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