Of the various musical styles that arose during the 20^th Century, jazz and country music would seem to be at opposite ends of the spectrum, with jazz going for swinging rhythms, harmonic complexity and an emphasis on horns; with country emphasizing four-square rhythms, musical simplicity, string instruments with the focus on the singer and the lyrics. But in the 1940s, the late Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys brought a swinging approach to essentially country music, calling it Western Swing, and indeed that became the Western in Country and Western. Of course, country has expanded in numerous directions, becoming more like pop music in many ways, while jazz has generally maintained its focus on the musical and instrumental content.

Occasionally, though the twain shall meet, so to speak, and this week we have a nice example. It’s the new album called Bluer Than Blue by Sweet Megg. It draws on Western Swing influence, but is jazzier than than Bob Wills or the groups that carry on the Western Swing sound like Asleep at the Wheel.

Meaghan Farrell, known professionally as Sweet Megg, grew up in New York City, as part of a generation where country music was defined by Garth Brooks and Shania Twain. She studied to be a singer-songwriter, drawing on the harmonic approach of jazz, and went on to study in Paris as an exchange student. And when she returned home, launched a career as a jazz singer. While she looked to artists like Billie Holiday and Bessie Smith for influence, she was also drawn to country great Patsy Cline. She moved to Nashville in 2021, at about the time she released a jazz album called I’m In Love Again with reed man Ricky Alexander, who also appears on the new album.

For Bluer Than Blue producer Scott Asen brought together Nashville country artists and jazz players, recording everyone in the studio at the same time, rather than the now-frequent practice of having the musicians adding their parts individually. Bluer Than Blue consists of a mix of both jazz tunes from the likes of Duke Ellington, and country classics made famous by artists like Patsy Cline, Earnest Tubb and even Jerry Lee Lewis. The result is an album of mostly classic songs with the jazz and country mixing throughout, with often creative arrangements, combining the twang of a steel guitar with the jazzy horns. Sweet Megg herself plunges into country while maintaining her credibility as a jazz singer.

Opening is a the title track, Bluer Than Blue, a Western Swing tune from 1945 made famous by Bob Wills. The arrangement adds Dixieland style horns to with the steel guitar and fiddle giving the track the requisite amount of cowboy. <<>>

In classic country style is a song by Kris Kristofferson and Shel Silverstein called Once More with Feeling which was made into a hit by Jerry Lee Lewis in 1969. The arrangement is probably the “country-est” on the album. <<>>

If there was ever song that epitomizes the Western Swing sound it’s San Antonio Rose written by and made famous by Bob Wills. After taking the song pretty straight toward the beginning <<>> the arrangement by Sam Chess takes off with a great mixture of Texas and New Orleans for the instrumental solos. <<>>

Someday Sweetheart is a very old song, written in 1919, and recorded by, among others Alberta Hunter. Sweet Megg and band have fun with it, again juxtaposing the early jazz sound with the twang of the steel guitar and fiddle. <<>>

I suppose an album like this that draws on old country sound can be allowed to have a little schmaltzy sentimentality. Please Help Me I’m Falling a 1960 hit for Hack Locklin has all the old Nashville cliches, including a vocal duet with a singer named Timbo. <<>>

The one original song is called Little Bit and is in keeping with the direction of the album, borrowing stylistically from 1950s country, a bit of old-time jazz, with a little Cajun-style fiddle. <<>>

From the jazz side comes her cover of Duke Ellington’s classic In a Sentimental Mood, done with a healthy dose country twang with the steel guitar and fiddle. <<>>

But probably the jazziest-sounding track on the album is Lonesome Hearted Blues which Sweet Megg and her band serve up Count Basic style, which really swings, but not without some fiddle and steel guitar. <<>>

Bluer Than Blue the new album by Meaghan Farrell, a/k/a Sweet Megg, is an enjoyable recording that brings together the stylistic elements that formed Western Swing, but takes it in a jazzier direction with more horns and swingier arrangements than Bob Wills back in the day. The band brought together musicians from both a country background and jazz players who lend authenticity to each of their respective stylistic contributions. And throughout the album, the players and Sweet Megg sound as if they are having fun, which is quite contagious. The arrangements, by various members of the group and a couple of outside arrangers, really shine, giving the album a combination of a classic sound but with eclecticism in the mixing of the country and jazz elements.

Our grade for audio quality is a B+. You can hear everything clearly in the mix, but there are some needless old-fashioned echo and reverb effects on the vocals at times, and the recording has most of its dynamic volume-compressed out of it.

There is a lot of retro music going around, with relatively younger players inspired by the styles of past generations. What we have with Sweet Megg is a kind double retro, combining classic-style country and western with swing era jazz.

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