If you're going to call yourself a genius, your album better be half decent. But oh my, what a pain listening through all of this. The first half is mostly plain bluesy songs, given a Big Band make-over. I hate it with a passion (I'd actively switch this off if it was on the radio) but I appreciate it's a matter of taste, if this is your thing, fine, enjoy! Songwriting skills isn't Charles' saving grace - he didn't write any! He is basically an OK singer and piano player, like many others. The second half initially got on my nerves much less and there are some fine songs (again, not his'), if only that omnipresent background choir had gone for a drink during the recordings. Less can be more, if you have a decent song as a starting point. I can imagine they would actually be quite good if e.g. Elvis Costello would sing them. I'll round it up to a 2* for historical reasons. Phew, I hope it's not Frank Sinatra or so tomorrow!