(Review by Ann Alex)
A collection
of originals, with Ms Eng supplying vocals and lyrics and Wallace doing
the tunes and the arrangements. Of Chinese-American descent and working in arts
administration and grant-making organisations, Eng, who has been recognised in this
field with honours from the California Arts Council and the World Affairs
Council, currently works for a non-profit body developing affordable
workspaces for the arts. This is her debut CD.
Trombonist,
composer, producer and educator Wallace, from San Francisco, and a four-time
Grammy nominee, has been involved in pop, soul, Latin and Afro-Caribbean music
working with the likes of Count Basie, Aretha Franklin, Sonny Rollins and
Carlos Santana.
Ms
Eng's voice is a pleasing, expressive alto with clear diction and the musicians
are well up to the mark. However, I had problems totally enjoying the songs.
This was perhaps because songs need to get their point across straightforwardly
whereas a poem can be a bit more obscure at first reading forcing the reader to return
to the work many times. Ms Eng has previously written some 500 poems, so she is
used to that genre. I found some of the songs what I would call 'wandering'
rather than direct, and without enough variety. This, of course, is subjective
and another listener could easily disagree.
The
information supplied tells us that the Blue
Hour refers to the times of dawn and twilight and the songs cover themes of
love, loss, travel and identity, with autobiographical input. Quite a tall
order for a set of songs! The titles give a flavour of the material: Filthy
Gorgeous; Sleepless in Paris; You Put a Spell on Him; I Love a Girl Who
Parties; Hong Kong; Wild Plum; Magnolia Light; Alpha Girl; A New York Moment;
Thursdays In May. The songs I liked more than others were Filthy
Gorgeous (a swinger with a big band accompaniment, intimate by turns,
ending with a sensuous sax solo); Alpha Girl (an interesting storyline
about a woman who is successful in all but love); Thursdays in May (a
sad love song with a beautiful string accompaniment, in fact the strings almost
'embrace' the vocals).
Available on Patois Records. See www.thebluehourproject.com
Moy
Eng (vocals, composition, lyrics, production) Wayne Wallace (composition,
arrangements, production).
Musicians on various tracks: Deszon
Claiborne, Colin Douglas, Akira Tana (drums); David Belove, Marc van
Wageningen, John Wiitala (fretless, electric, acoustic basses); Joe Gilman
(piano); Murray Low (keyboard); Frank Martin (keyboard, piano, organ); Michael
Spiro (congas, percussion); Rick Vandivier (guitars, dobro); Tommy Kesecker
(vibes); Erik Jekabson, John Worley (trumpet); Mary Fettig, Melecio Magdaluyo
(saxes); Wayne Wallace (trombone); Eugene Chokluv (1st violin); Niki
Fukada (2nd violin); Edith Szendrey (viola); Monica Scott (cello);
Yuki Nagase (double bass)
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