Here
we have yet another skilled woman singer with a stellar band, giving us nine
standard jazz and contemporary songs and two from Thomas herself. The album is
enjoyable generally but I found some of the interpretations too dramatic for my
taste. Other listeners may of course relish a bit of drama. I liked best the
blues numbers, a wonderfully raunchy My Stove's In Good Condition, lively
guitar and piano to words such as 'If you don't like my peaches, why do you
shake my tree?' (Ahem!) Then there is Ellington's Ain't Got Nothing But The
Blues, sung slowly to guitar and piano.
The originals are How Much Forgiveness, a heartfelt piano-led song ending in a passionate crescendo of wordless repeated riffs; and I Belong To You, a sad love song to a tangoish beat which was one of the too dramatic offerings although it became more quiet at the end. Mississippi Goddamn (Nina Simone) is well performed, a protest song about equality, sung with genuine passion and enhanced by a chorus of backing singers.
I was
intrigued to find that there was little information supplied about the singer
except to say that this was Ms Thomas's
sophomore release. However the CD packet gave extensive biographical details
about these instrumentalists, who hail mostly from the USA. Pappas also plays funk, Sewell learned to
play informally 'on the streets'; Saci, from Brazil, is a world music
percussionist; Berg hails from a musical family and Poole drums in all kinds of
styles, including punk and hip hop.
A band of very diverse background.
The
CD is available from the usual suspects.
Ann Alex
Since
I Fell For You; How Much Forgiveness; It's A Sin to Tell A Lie; My Foolish
Heart; Don't Let The Sun Catch You Crying; I Belong To You; It Had To Be You;
My Stove's In Good Condition; Ain't Got Nothing But The Blues; Mississippi
Goddamn; The More I See You.
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