Chris
McNulty (vocals); John Di Martino (arrangements and piano); Ugonna Okegwo
(bass); Gregory Hutchinson (drums) + Chamber ensemble*
(Review
by Ann Alex)
Prepare to shed tears whilst listening to
this CD. This is Chris McNulty’s seventh
CD since she emerged on to the international jazz scene in 1991, and it is a
tribute to her son, Sam McNulty, hip-hop artist-composer Chap One, who died in
2011. McNulty researched songbooks
extensively to get the right mix of material for the album, and she has
assembled an excellent set of songs.
The CD manages to avoid being too maudlin or sentimental, probably because of the skilful arrangements and genuinely heartfelt way that the songs are sung. The sound is lush and poignant and McNulty’s voice soars around the songs, a rich voice with just a hint of a pleasing nasal tone. I say ‘soars around’ because she makes the tunes her own, original improvisation, sometimes cutting across the musicians, sometimes with gentle scat-like vocals.
The CD manages to avoid being too maudlin or sentimental, probably because of the skilful arrangements and genuinely heartfelt way that the songs are sung. The sound is lush and poignant and McNulty’s voice soars around the songs, a rich voice with just a hint of a pleasing nasal tone. I say ‘soars around’ because she makes the tunes her own, original improvisation, sometimes cutting across the musicians, sometimes with gentle scat-like vocals.
It isn’t difficult to work out the irony
of songs such as What Are You Doing The
Rest Of Your Life on an album such as this – I found this to be one of the
most moving tracks. Then there’s Nature Boy; With Every Breath I Take; Where
Is Love (Lionel Bart); and Boulevard
Of Broken Dreams. There is one original song by McNulty herself, You Are There, a simple statement of
love with minimal accompaniment. The CD
opens with the oddly titled The Saga Of
Harrison Crabfeathers, which is in fact a very sad love song which is
achingly appropriate:
‘Crying softly for the one who cannot be
here
Through the rain she sees a face laughing
in happy play
The face of a child, the child on a sunny
day’.
The other tracks are A Flower Is A Lovesome Thing; Stardust; Yesterday I Heard The Rain;
Love Came On Stealthy Fingers; On A Clear Day. The arrangements include good solos from
piano, horns, woodwinds and bass. The making of this CD must have taken courage
by all concerned, and it has just struck me as by an odd coincidence, that this
review will appear here on Mother’s Day.
The
CD is released on Palmetto records on March 24
Ann
Alex
* Steve Newcomb (arranger); Mazz Swift, Josh Henderson, Amanda Lo
(violins); Trevor New (viola); Meaghan Burke, Marika Hughes (cellos); Jodie
Rottle (flutes); Ivan Barenboim (clarinets); John Morgan-Bush (French horn);
Ben Wendel (bassoon); Paul Bollenback (guitar)
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