Back in the
mid-60s there was a hit pop tune titled The Game of Love recorded by the
English group, Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders. With Glimpse, her
fourth album, celebrated vocalist Jennifer Lee offers an intriguing musical
voyage across the game board of her personal relationship experiences. The
11-track album offers nine Lee originals, an outlier original, and a re-worked classic.
The opener, I Caught a Glimpse of Your Soul has Lee and Rhodes rubato before lightly swinging. Frequent collaborator, guitarist Peter Sprague and pianist Adam Shulman offer fine solos. Samba is the presentation with Farewell to Comfort on which Lee effortlessly glides over the lyrics. The vocal overdubs here, penned by Sprague, are a nice production touch.
Dave Don’t Mind the Rain is a slow, bluesy bit and the only original not written by Lee. Bassist, Gunnar Biggs offers a tasty solo, as does Shulman. Vivid Technicolor Love is a jumpy, inviting hip-hopper of a groove with Lee backed by a horn section. It's one of a handful of tracks here that specifically reference Lee’s relationship with husband, George Visger, a name well-recognized by NFL fans – he’s a Super Bowl-winning player - and a soul with an incredible story of his own journey and crusade.
If I Only Had a Brain is the GAS outlier here. It is given
a balladic treatment with Lee herself on piano over reharmonized changes. Rick
Kuhn’s accordion is a lovely touch and vaguely resembles the timbre of Toots
Thielemans' harmonica. Kuhn offers an
elegantly tasteful solo. A uniquely different, attractive and highlight track.
Lee has an
attractive and very likeable voice. There’s vulnerability in there, too.
Her facile use of dynamic color adds
to her overall presentation. And, she’s got sniper’s-eye intonation. The
accompanying musicians – all top-tier L.A. studio denizens – surround Lee and
complement her superbly.
Serendipity presents as an effervescent samba. As with the other Lee originals here, the intelligent and honest lyrics are well-meshed with the melodic ups and downs. Catch that aspect here. Lee’s take out here is a dream-weaver. Guest artist, Randy Brecker’s flugelhorn sends off the deeply personally messaged Warrior, Drop Your Sword. While the tune is a marvelously textured one, the tune’s underlying back story about Visger’s career-caused brain injury and crusade deepens everything about it. A beautiful and album highlight track.
Pulsing keys introduce Hold On, another original drawn from Lee’s life experiences. More of a pop offering, Lee covers it gracefully. Shulman’s piano solo and vocal overdubs add nicely to the song’s depth. The Latinesque Superhero (a distant echoing of Santana’s Smooth) is exotically hip and, while its lyrics are a forthright and salutary message, it’s quite a fun track. My sixth sense advises that this track might also just get picked up in an environment where pyrotechnics are de rigeur. Anton Schwartz’s tenor intros the darker Strange and Beautiful. This is a noir-ish piece which Lee covers azure-blue.
While not
a mind-bender per se, Glimpse is a thoughtful, captivating peek
into the life experience-triggered music of an exceptional, multi-faceted
artist. Game on. Nick Mondello
I Caught
a Glimpse of Your Soul; Farewell to Comfort; Dave Don’t Mind the Rain; Vivid Technicolor
Love; If I Only Had a Brain; Serendipity; Warrior, Drop Your Sword; Hold On;
Superhero; Here You Are; Strange and Beautiful
No comments :
Post a Comment