Recorded @ Wonderland Studio in Las Vegas, Nevada - Engineer - Robert Katz; Cover Art: Merle Zurin.
Lucky Still is an elegant musical excursion through the certainties and vagaries of love and romance. Celebrated vocalist, composer, author Barbara Reed and her cadre of Las Vegas and Los Angeles A-Listers deliver eight of her originals – each one exceptionally well-performed and meticulously-produced.
The Tear Returns opens with an inviting rhythmic groove. Reed slides over her lyrics and saxophonist Joe Escriba and pianist Bill Zappia add fine statements. It is a uniquely formed and invigoratingly performed track. You Can Take It All Back is a funky, soulful cut written by Denise Bonnell with Reed’s lyrics. Reed cooks, pouncing fiercely on her words. Escriba bops over the energetic bed with backing by B-3, piano, John Belzaguy’s pluck, and Doug Tann’s driving stickwork.
In My Life is a
retrospective ballad with music from Reed and lyrics via David Sebastian Bach.
This is a terrific commercial cut on which Reed absolutely belts Bach’s lines. It
is very much a highlight track. Tall Dark and Handsome Man is
Latin-fused story cooker. Sid “The Kid” Smith’s sax states over a white-hot
rhythm bed. Reed covers this one con mucho brio. Belzaguy and Smith
shout things out before the bridge returns and things exit.
Reed is an engaging, super-lithe vocalist who
has that special flair to wave her vocal wand over her own fine lyrics or those
of David Sebastian Bach (ed. Yes, he’s ancestrally related
to J.S.). She’s confident in her vocal approaches, has dead-on intonation
and diction, and can float effortlessly from upstairs in her range to down
deeper. As a composer, her melodic lines have a playful flair and her
well-honed lyrics shine intelligently sensitive and deeply poetic.
The Child in You is a contemporary ballad with Escriba’s saxophone, lush synth
strings, and solid rhythm accompanying Reed. Bill Zappia offers up a
tasty piano solo. It is an extravagantly beautiful production. A Second
Chance with You is a light-Rock canvas reminiscent of those classic Burt Bacharach-Dionne
Warwick classics. It has that kind of vibe and texture. The track develops
elegantly with keys, saxophone, and strings. Again is a modern throwback
to when ballads oozed romance. Reed’s stunning rubato entrance with
Zappia’s piano develops into larger, more expansive things. Her dynamics and
lyric interpretation here are down-right killer. This is a track you could
easily imagine being covered by the great Streisand. Lucky Still, a
gorgeous and vividly textured ballad closes the date. Reed pulls great
emotional depth from the words here. This is vocalized poetry at its dramatic
finest and a fitting closing to a most admirable session.
It won’t be a surprise to this listener if Lucky
Still takes off on the jazz charts and Reed’s material gets covered by
other artists. The fare is that juicy. Lucky Still is one of the most
enjoyable, musically enriched albums it has been my good fortune to review so
far this year. Nick Mondello
A Tear Returns; You Can Take It All Back; In My
Life; Tall Dark and Handsome Man; The Child in You; Second Chance With You; Again; Lucky Still.
1 comment :
Way to go. It's about time the industry is acknowledging the gift of Barbara
Reed. JM
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