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Reviews of albums or artists.

62nd Street Adds, Reviews

Kristin Callahan – Lost In A Dream

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Kristin Callahan

Kristin Callahan – Lost In A Dream
Released – 16 July 2021

I started listening to the one original from Ms. Callahan, surrounded by a half-dozen cover tunes. “Lost In A Dream” is a perfect introduction to her lyrical styling.  It is both melancholy and inviting at the same time.  The love story not returned floats along perfectly framed by Matvei Sigalov on guitar and Mark Prince’s percussion.

You don’t know what you have lost,

But one day, you will remember.

“The person in love is literally lost in a dream, hoping their love will finally be reciprocated,” Callahan remarks.

Ah, but returned love is hard to find anywhere on this sad set.  The classic mid-60s Oscar + Grammy-winning “Shadow Of Your Smile” from Johnny Mandel and Paul Francis Webster is a winning testament:

Now when I remember spring
All the joy that love can bring
I will be remembering
The shadow of your smile.

Ms. Callahan says she wanted standards that were “a move away from being quite so traditional.

Kristin Callahan

She’s got that here.  There’s no big band, but rather a collection of acoustic artists that, while sounding fresh, never depart far from the essence of the melody.

The intimacy of Ms. Callahan’s voice belies her range. It only became evident to me after hearing the second or third track. There’s much to like in Bassist Eliot Seppa’s arrangements, but at times they can nearly overpower Ms. Callaghan’s delicate voice.  A little lighter hand on the mix would have served this set nicely.

Still, it’s a well-conceived and executed set.  It makes me want to look for two earlier releases, “A New Love” and “One Magic Day.”  This set was primarily recorded pre-pandemic. Some percussion was added from Lee Pearson and Carroll Dashiell III in their home studios.

My favorites include Ms. Callahan’s original “Lost In A Dream” along with “Shadow Of Your Smile” and the lone ray of optimism, Duke Ellington’s “Caravan.”

I’ll be adding these three at the little online radio station (62nd Street) come 12 July and checking DC performance venues to make a road trip once live performances return.

This set is very highly recommended.

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A personal note: This blog sometimes lies fallow for weeks, no months at a time. Other priorities, other commitments, other shiny things – well, none of that is an adequate excuse. Either I’m going to do this, or I’m not, I tell myself.

But here we are again. Another promise to tend the garden with more regularity and a couple of albums that arouse me from my reverie. One a week – either current or vintage. That’s the renewed goal.

Hopefully, with better ears and some notion of work that approaches commercial viability. I’ve received a couple of albums lately that clear that hurdle. This is one of them.

62nd Street Adds, Reviews

Bianca Rossini – Rio Paradise

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Bianca Rossini - Rio Paradise

Bianca Rossini – Rio Paradise
(Apaixonada Music/BDM Records)
Released – 11 February 2021

Can I fully appreciate music with lyrics in a language that’s not mine?

Bianca Rossini is a Brazilian-born, Beverly Hills-based singer-songwriter.  This is a five-track EP that features all original material in Portuguese and English.  This builds on her last album, “Vento do Norte.”  Ms. Rossini flips the switch on one track from that album – “Ipanema Paraíso” – from Portuguese to English, to become “Ipanema Paradise.”

“Return to Brazil,” released in 2017 as a single, is performed both in English and Portuguese.

Once again, Ms. Rossini brings an effortless sensuality to the lyrics in both Portuguese and English.  The two opening tracks are in Portuguese – “Mariana” and “Canto de Mi Tierra.”

Bianca Rossini


About “Canto de Mi Tierra,” Ms. Rossini says it was composed on a trip to Lima, Peru:

“One night, I visited an art gallery next to where I was staying, where there was a sculpture exhibit by a Columbian artist. An art piece immediately touched my heart, and – boom – right there, the entire song was born. I was alone in the gallery, and I walked around singing the new melody and words. There was a bit of an echo; it was a very intimate and spiritual experience. Peru is an extraordinary place for me.”

The backing group frames Ms. Rossini’s supple voice nicely.  Back to the original question – Can I fully appreciate music with lyrics in a language that’s not mine?

This is a set of tunes that are easy on the ears.  When it’s this good – it really doesn’t matter.

This set is highly recommended – “Ipanema Paradise” will be added to the playlist at 62ndStreet.com Online Radio.

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Reviews

Ashley Locheed & Chris Rottmayer – So in Love

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Ashley Locheed & Chris Rottmayer
So in Love (Timucua Arts)
Released – 4 September 2020

Imagine for a moment that you find a box sealed up and put on a high shelf nine years ago. You take it down and can’t quite remember what it contained. The writing on the box looks familiar, but…

Haven’t we all been there at one time or another? Now imagine that when you open the box, you find a pleasant surprise. Not precisely a million-dollar appraisal at “Antiques Roadshow,” but something you’d forgotten about – something bright and shiny, good as new.

That’s the story that’s in my head about the release of “So In Love,” with credits shared by pianist Chris Rottmayer and vocals from Ashley Locheed (LOCK-heed.)

Recorded in 2011, Ms. Locheed delivers an intimate performance, backed by Mr. Rottmayer, Chuck Archard on electric bass, and the late Keith Wilson on drums. Mr. Wilson passed in 2014, and the album gets a dedication to his memory.

I’m usually a fan of the vocalist alone, but in this case, the backing group isn’t there to frame the singer, but rather, they all compliment each other. The man who recorded and mixed the set is Benoit Glazer (He is a conductor, arranger, trumpet player, and multi-instrumentalist who was teaching at McGill University at 21 years of age and did so for nine years.) These are his words – “Every note, every nuance is absolutely and completely tastefully done, and even in solos, one never gets the feeling that anybody had a need to assert or force their idea through the group.”

Ms. Locheed does have a day job – she’s in the backing group for pop star Michael Bolton, and her resume includes past work with old crooner Engelbert Humperdinck. She’s best with the ballads – the group’s take on Sinatra’s “Summer Wind” offers a whole new melancholy perspective and the best showcase for Ms. Locheed’s supple voice.

Mr. Rottmayer teaches at the University of South Florida and the University of Wisconsin/Madison. He’s also got more than 20 years of experience as a Disney World musician at Orlando. Mr. Glazer is the co-founder of the Timucua Arts Foundation in 2000 with his wife and is “at the forefront of chamber arts in Florida.” The foundation released this gem.

One wonders if there are other bright and shiny things lurking on the shelf, waiting for willing ears. Highly recommended.

Reviews

Aubrey Johnson – Unraveled

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Aubrey Johnson – Unraveled (Outside In Music)
Released – 20 March 2020

What’s the line from Monty Python?

“Now for something completely different.”

File it under “Jazz,” the accompanying document says. It’s a good thing, “jazz” is a broad category. Perhaps “Baroque Jazz” might be a better category for this set from Aubrey Johnson.

That’s how complex these arrangements are. The set opens with a cover, “No More I Love Yous,” previously written and recorded by David Freeman and Joseph Hughes as the group “The Lover Speaks” in the mid-80s, and then recorded as a hit for Annie Lennox ten years or so later. Ms. Johnson manages to take the manic craziness out of both of those recordings with her arrangement here – and also showcase both her vocal prowess and the talented group she’s assembled. There are two other covers – the Jobim/Oliveria classic “Dindi,” and adding a vocal track to Egberto Gismonti’s 1980 “Karate,” initially performed on a ten-string guitar, here backed by a very nimble Vítor Gonçalves on accordion.

The rest are original, either from Ms. Johnson or one of her bandmates. I’m particularly smitten with her “Love Again.” It manages to be delicate and robust all at once, and with “Lie In Wait,” a soaring story about hope against loss.

One is first seduced by her the range of her nimble voice but quickly taken in by the arrangements. I once admired the use of a tuba in a jazz ensemble. Here, a bass clarinet is featured and shines on several tracks, and the world can always use more accordion.

This set is handcrafted and unique.

Ms. Johnson both performs and teaches in New York – with an undergraduate degree from Western Michigan University (Go, Broncos!)

And who doesn’t love a gal from Kalamazoo?

Very highly recommended.

Reviews

Jenny Davis – Rearranged

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Jenny Davis – Rearranged
(Three Penny Records)
Released – 21 Feburary 2020

The full name of this set is “Rearranged (The Yeoman Warders Project),” which sent me scurrying to find out more about “Yeoman Warders.”

It seems they (thanks, Wikipedia) are “…responsible for looking after any prisoners in the Tower (of London) and safeguarding the British crown jewels.”

Ms. Davis says in this case, her music is “…a metaphor for raising children in a dangerous world – where parents protect and behave as the Queen’s guard, unflinching, loyal and sometimes silent in the face of ignorance, fear, even hatred. It reveals the duty of a parent standing guard where the children are free to thrive – safe in a sanctuary of parental protection, without care or worry.”

And while I can appreciate any inspiration for marvelous work, this is all way too complicated for me.

Here’s what I know – I like this set.

The old disc jockey in me looks for a catchy tune and a hook.  And while that may sound crass to the artiste, it is what sells music.  Otherwise, one creates art to please only themselves.

And the other thing the old disc jockey knows is that sometimes, it’s multiple exposures to new music that makes it stick.  The former marketer in me (more money in that than being a disc jockey) knows that one must be exposed multiple times in multiple ways to have it all stick.

Enough pontificating – back to Ms. Davis: this set features soaring, spot-on vocals in front of a group of talented pros, led by Grammy-nominated pianist Jovino Santos Neto – who knows when to shine, and when to get out of the way.  The original pieces – three-fourths of the dozen tracks are topped by the final version of the title track, “Rearranged,” backed by the Sirius String Quartet.

Inspired arrangements and shimmering vocals make this an ambitious, perhaps audacious set that belongs in your collection.

I highly recommend this album.

Reviews

Amber Weekes – Pure Imagination

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Amber Weekes – Pure Imagination
Released – 3 January 2020

Amber Weekes’ biography says she’s a “straight-ahead jazz” vocalist.

She never strays far from that brand, but there’s a lot of versatility in the selections she chooses on this set.

Lightly swinging through most of a baker’s dozen tunes, ranging from Cole Porter to Duke Ellington.  There’s a new standard from Paul Simon (a gospel-tinged “Gone At Last”), and two versions (Ballad and Bossa) of Johnny Mercer’s “When October Goes,” an unfinished lyric picked up and finished by Barry Manilow.

Exceptions are a pair written by Oscar Brown – the classic “Brown Baby,” covered by artists ranging from Mahalia Jackson to Diana Ross over the years.  Trevor Ware delicately backs this one on bass.  You’ve probably never heard Mr. Brown’s classic “The Snake,” performed like this before.  (Yes – that one, made famous in the 70s by Al Wilson.)  Mr. Brown is also represented with “Mr. Kicks,” from a theatrical effort that never made it to the stage in the early 60s.

A pair of duets – Sue Raney joins on “Pure Imagination,” and Mon David on “The Way He Makes Me Feel.”

Backed by a band that sounds bigger than it is, it’s a diverse set, but even with the occasional arrangement that strays, Ms. Weekes brings it back to Main Street.  Credit also to a team of recording engineers, as well as Mr. Ware, who co-produces

This set is highly recommended.