
According top his bio, Decyo McDuffie is a college student studying Entomology & Nematology. He wants to do this: “working with research that prevents insect vectors from spreading disease and disease pathogen.’ On the side, McDuffie is a jazz singer, who sings standards.
I was attracted to his album by the title track:’I Could Be That Guy’ is from the musical Sister Act, which I think has a very good score. And you would think that his style skews more theater, and in that track, it does. But on the rest of the album, I can see why he wants to be labeled as a jazz singer. He has good improvisational skills. For example, he has a very good multi-tempo version of ‘All the Way’ that is quite unique.
But I wonder if he also has theater roots – his ‘Cabaret’ is very theatrical and his ‘Everytime We Say Goodbye’ very purposeful. He is also still malleable – I bet his interpretations will evolve.