Song of Solomon 
Artist: Kim Costanza 
Label:  Clydesdale Music 
 
After five years of saxophone lessons, my parents finally let me drop the band.  The world (or at least my high school band director) breathed a sigh of relief.  Nevertheless, the experience left me with a fondness and deep appreciation for those who do have musical talent, like Kim Costanza. Song of Solomon is the fourth release for this talented Christian jazz artist, but it's my first exposure to his music.   
  
Costanza has taken both Christian and classical love songs and mixed them together into "a celebration of passion and purity from a Christian perspective," aptly named the Song of Solomon.  The songs are fairly well-known, including "When I Fall in Love," Jerome Kern's "All the Things You Are," Lerner and Lowe's "Almost Like Being in Love," "Somewhere" from Westside Story, and Steven Curtis Chapman's "I Will Be There."  The liner notes for each song relate back to the Biblical Song of Solomon.  

From the song titles, you can guess that the music is easily listening much like that of John Tesh, Kenny G, or David Sanborn.  The quality is excellent.  He has some great musicians playing with him, although the only name I recognized is Greg Sparks on acoustic guitar and bass.  This is the perfect album to listen to with your spouse, snuggled up in front of the fire on a cold winter night. -----Shari Lloyd  
 

Kim Costanza's purpose for this album is ambitious. He wants to educate Christian listeners about the joys of marital sensuality, as celebrated in the twenty-second book of the Bible. Using a mixture of original compositions and romantic standards, his lite jazz instrumental stylings will probably find more acceptance in Christian bookstores than another recent attempt on the same subject by the Vigilantes of Love. This makes Costanza's offering useful on a number of levels, but if your standard for great saxophone jazz is Coltrane and Parker, stay away. Still, if you'd like some background music for a quiet, romantic evening at home, once the kids are in bed, Kim Costanza is your man. -----Linda Stonehocker