On a distant shore

"It was recorded shortly after he suffered a heart attack, the singer perhaps aware that his time was finite and therefore making him determined to add an elegant last chapter to his legacy. Russell is by no means the first rocker to embrace what's known in broad terms as the Great American Songbook, but few have sought to add new material to the canon, as opposed to wrapping their voice around already well-known tunes ... Russell's widow says her husband thought the album was his best-ever work; that will forever be open to debate, but what's certain is that a truly great musician left this world on an undeniable high".

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"From the swampy choogle of "Love This Way" to the supper-club orchestration of "On the Waterfront" to the Cotton Club jazz of "Easy to Love," he poignantly circles his musical bases one last time".

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"In his mid-seventies and closing out a six-decade career in 2016, long-bearded Russell's quickly recognizable voice has lost some of its fullness and strength. Still, he does pretty well by new songs and revisits three lovey-dovey standards he famously wrote: "This Masquerade," "Hummingbird" and "A Song For You."".