We're in luck; maybe not all is lost. bucking the tide of overwhelming inanity in popular music, in this debut recording David Guidice joins John Pizzarelli and a few others who sing the great popular songs with verve and imagination. he's also lined up some fine musicians to play them with him. They're all his fellow students at the Eastman school; they've often played together, and it shows, this is no pick-up group.
   The versatile Josh Rutner adapts his tenor saxophone to the occasion. Contrast the keening poignancy of his solo on "Bewitched" with his swinging, romp on "It's All Right With Me." Rutner knows how to stretch the melody to it's outer limits without breaking it.                
   Drummer Ted Poor is a wonder addition to providing conventional accents on these standards; he lays down some highly original rhythmic patterns. Two examples: his introductory passage behind the vocal. on "Sunny Side Of The Street," and his playing behind Rutner on "It's All Right With Me."
   All this rhythmic experimentation is made possible by the unflagging bass lines of Ike Sturm. He knits it all together; his solid drive enables Poor, Rutner, and Guidice to prance around the structure of the songs. Once you listen to Sturm's bass lines, you won't be surprised to learn that he's also a composer of delightfully uncluttered melodic lines and subtle harmony.
   But this is Guidice's recording.  He's reinvigorated these standards with innovative arrangements, which the group plays with gusto. Only 22, he sings with a youthful ebullience and optimism that is infused with an intelligence and understanding of the lyrics not often found in someone so young. No wonder that last year he won the Downbeat Student Music Award for outstanding performance by a jazz vocalist. The judges got it right, from the exuberant opening "World On A String" through the entire recording, his singing is confident and assured, no gimmicks, no nonsense.
   A jazz piano major at Eastman, Guidice plays with authority. His playing is concise, sure-footed and appropriate. Listen to him express determination in his solo on "Pick Yourself Up." I'm equally impressed with his comping and imaginative chording, his sense of time surprises me -- just as it's supposed to, sometimes he sounds almost monk-like.  So enjoy this debut by a promising newcomer. I have, and know you will, too.