Since his Tony Award-winning turn in Lin Manuel Miranda’s rap/hip-hop musical Hamilton, Leslie Odom Jr has focused his efforts on his recording career. In 2016, he signed a four-album deal with S-Curve Records. As well as performing residencies across New York’s jazz scene, he has appeared at the Newport and Monterey Jazz Festivals fronting his own quintet.

His first two studio releases were comprised entirely of covers from the worlds of musical theatre and jazz. His third and most recent album Mr, released in November last year, is full of original material in a style that confidently fuses pop, jazz, and R&B.

His latest single ‘Go Crazy’ is a strikingly fresh and contemporary piece, marrying a catchy (almost boy bandish) pop melody with big band feel. ‘We were really kind of just thinking of Cab Calloway on a stage, with his band, trying to fire up the crowd,’ said Odom Jr in an interview with WBUR when explaining the genesis of the song. He pays homage to the jazz forefathers with his ‘hi-de-hi-de-hi-de-hos’ at the pre-chorus. The piece is richly orchestrated with Latinesque touches, strong brass, and white hot piano lines.

Lyrically, ‘Go Crazy’ is three and a half minutes of unfettered lust and sexual intrigue. ‘Her hips sway like the wind through the tree leaves / Her kisses are like coffee flavored whiskey / I wanna take ’em in ’til I’m tipsy,’ he sings about an enigmatic woman from New Orleans. Odom Jr’s delivery is both cool and excitable, drawing out tension in the verses and almost squealing as he sings the song’s title.

Image copyright: S-Curve Records