Time for the annual trek to North Carolina. Later than usual this year, and we were all overdue. A little crabby at first – well, it is a bit of a haul from home – but we all settled down in short order.
Hard not to – with scenes like this one – and that’s just the water on the sunset side. There’s a sunrise side, too, but sunrises are so overdone, don’t you think?
Anyway, a bunch of discs made the trip with me – two from Minneapolis-based artists. I’m getting so much music from Minneapolis lately, I’m seriously considering burning off some airline miles just to take in a weekend (or more) of music there.
Back to the discs. They were both very good. Let me tell you about one of them.
Sophia Shorai – As Long As You’re LivingReleased – August, 2010
A mix of standards and more recent material, Minneapolis-based Sophia Shorai calls this an examination of “the struggle of the human condition.”
There’s nothing fancy here – no apparent recording tricks, no overdubs, no phony backup singers.
It’s simply a piano - and well, quite a voice.
You’ve probably heard Ms. Shorai before. In poking around, I discovered that she was the voice that provided a cover of the Beatles’ “Hello Goodbye” for a 2007 Target commercial. I was an “oh, yeah!” moment. More about that in a minute. Point is that she has a solid and versatile voice, matched with the ability to handle not only the delicate nature of Jobim’s “Waters Of March,” but also the gritty nature of Oscar Brown, Junior’s title track, “As Long As You’re Living.”
That’s one of my favorite tracks from the dozen on this disc, which also includes a nice turn from Ms. Shorai’s pianist, Tommy Barbarella. Others include a sweetly contemplative “Old Devil Moon,” and a version of the “Waters Of March” that strains mightily against the sort of built-in Brazilian beat that comes with that tune.
Ms. Shorai calls this this set focused…that’s my only quibble, here – in that I appaently didn’t grasp the common thread, or the story being told. But it’s a minor concern – and it neither detracted from my enjoyment of the set, nor the ability to sprinkle these gems into other mixes I may assemble.
Some artists’ work cries out for a big band. Some – like Stacey Kent, Sara Gazarek, or Carolyn Leonhart – don’t. This one works exactly because of its minimalist construction, and Ms. Shorai’s voice.
The liner notes call the way this session was recorded “unforgiving.” Luckily, there was nothing to forgive.
It’s an impressive first outing, and is worthy of a highest recommendation.
Here’s that Target commercial. Good stuff. In researching Ms. Shorai’s work, I came across a lot of people who would pay for a copy of a full-length recording. Count me among that group.
One final thing this week – a word about Abbey Lincoln’s passing. Among all the words that I saw written about this amazing performer, the best were at NPR’s website. I’ll not try to quote writer Lara Pellegrinelli here; I’ll simply provide a link to a fine piece of work here.
More from Minneapolis next time.
Bookmark this article: 
Lisa Engelken – Caravan (Little Angel)
My tastes lean toward more traditional stuff. So a non-traditional treatment of what Ms. Engelken calls “musical mutts” is a stretch for me. But with the passion that Ms. Engelken brings to this project, I found unexpected gifts in giving “Caravan” the repeat listens I needed in order to anticipate the joy that lives in this recording. 
Kathryn Smith – With Every Breath I Take
