As music writers, we get the opportunity to hear a lot of stuff that flies under the radar for the average fan. There’s a little sense of pride in having a friend stop cold in the middle of a sentence, point to our car stereo, and ask “Who is this? This is really cool!” Never have we had that happen more often than when playing Jim Bianco’s 2004 release, Handsome Devil. Recorded with a 19-piece big band, including members of the LA Philharmonic Orchestra, it’s a brainy, wildly creepy concept album about the disturbing power of the male libido. Weird, right? But it works, and if Elvis Costello and Serge Gainsbourg had a “what-happens-in-Vegas-stays-in-Vegas” kind of weekend with Tom Waits, Handsome Devil would undoubtedly be the soundtrack. It’s full of boozy, New Orleans-jazz tinged ballads and rollicking ragtime pop numbers, each one dripping with a come-hither sarcasm that makes you feel like Bianco’s got a few riverboat gambler’s tricks up his sleeve. more ›