Carefully...
Free to Dream is the second recording by vocalist Patrice Williamson. The thirtysomething Memphis native follows up her 1998 debut, My Shining Hour with a contemporary collection of originals and standards accented with intelligence and pathos, both in choice and performance. Her originals are epistles of spirituality and self-actualization…and they swing, albeit with a humid momentum.
Ms. Williamson has a beautiful low alto voice that could be likened to a smooth single-malt scotch with the hint of a breathless backdraft. This is a voice that is well suited to the more inventive interpretations on the disc like "The Sound of Music Suite" (dedicated to her late father) and Bud Powell's "Celia" (sung in a precision-point scat). Ms. Williamson also contributes her flute to "Gentle Rain" and "Putting on the Ritz." An enjoyable vocal outting.
