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Tianna Hall: Never Let Me Go
By Track review of "You and the Night and the Music"Hall's performance style is one of Americana, paralleling that of fellow singer and Houstonian Jacqui Sutton and her Frontier Orchestra (Billie & Dolly (Toy Blue Typewriter, 2010)). The music's personality is a bit sepia-toned with contemporary notes of modernity. Americana is not all that is featured as Hall's Portuguese is impeccable and she can spin a web with composer Antonio Carlos Jobim.
On Never Let Me Go, it is about standards and Hall's steamy-sardonic take on the Broadway writers Arthur SchwartzHoward Dietz classic "You and the Night and the Music" from the 1934 Broadway show Revenge With Music removes the love song to a more complex and provocative level. Well-covered, the piece is propelled into full swing mode by Wheeler and Nase, who provide an orchestra of support. One guitar provides a bass line and rhythm and the other filigree with Hall rushing the lyrics just ahead of the beat, giving her singing a laconic, matter-of-fact tone.
Hall's voice is a solid alto with sensual grit, not too little and not too much: just enough love dust to get the point across. She sings as an impatient lover comforting her insecure love object in seduction. The projected sentiment is compounded and compelling. Wheeler and Nase both solo to great effect within these small confines proving often less is more. The piece is a triumph of minimization, where brevity wins every time.
Personnel
Tianna Hall
vocalsTianna Hall: vocals; Mike Wheeler: guitar; Mike Nase: guitar.
Album information
Title: Never Let Me Go | Year Released: 2011 | Record Label: Blue Bamboo Music
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Tianna Hall
CD/LP/Track Review
C. Michael Bailey
Kari-On Productions
Blue Bamboo Music
United States
Antonio Carlos Jobim
Never Let Me Go