When AJ Croce comes off the road, the last thing he wants to do is hang out in public and sign autographs like a needy, attention-seeking scenester. Instead, his leisurely evening of choice is entertaining friends with dinner and drinks, and before you know it, it’s off to the music room where the pianist takes requests from every genre imaginable.
This album of covers attempts to recreate those evenings with a setlist of Croce’s favorites and the requests he has come to appreciate. It’s not meant to be a recording to change mankind with philosophical thoughts, but offers instead a respite from reality.
A.J. Croce has experienced the transformative power of music for much of his life, be it as a vehicle for celebration and contemplation, transcendent love and profound loss, and many points in between.
With his 10th and newest album, the cathartic “By Request,” music provides a life-affirming way for him to grieve losing his wife of 24 years, Marlo, who died suddenly in 2018 from a rare and sudden heart virus.
But Croce does not achieve that catharsis with his own songs. Instead, he turns to funk, rock, blues, soul, pop and country favorites by a dozen distinctly different artists, including Neil Young (“Only Love Can Break Your Heart”); Sam Cooke (“Nothing Can Change This Love”); the Five Stairsteps, (“O-o-h Child”); Randy Newman (“Have You Seen My Baby?”); and the Beach Boys (“Sail On Sailor”).