Angie Wells: Truth Be Told

Angie Wells grew up in Philadelphia, surrounded by music. Her mother sang and played gospel piano, while her father was a devoted jazz and blues fan. The music of Sarah Vaughan, Carmen McRae, Jack McDuff and B.B. King, to name a few, could be heard on any day in her childhood home. At the age of five, Count Basie came to her school and played for her kindergarten class. The music seed had been planted. Later, she sang when and where she could, but never committed to pursuing it as a career.

Then the jazz gods intervened. After supporting her husband while he matriculated through two degrees at college, she took a vacation by herself, to see a friend in Paris. One night they went to a jazz club where, unbeknownst to Wells, her friend told the musicians that Wells was a jazz singer in America. Hearing that, the band asked if she would like to sit in for a few songs. As Wells tells it, her friend came back to their table and said, " 'By the way, after you finish your dinner, you're going to sing a couple of numbers.' I started telling her I wasn't prepared, but she just told me, 'Look, it's time for you to do it!' And that is kind of how it happened! I got up there and sang two songs; the audience had a great reaction, and I thought to myself: 'Maybe I can really do this...' "

The audience's explosive applause encouraged her to begin training to sing professionally. 18 months later, after getting pregnant and giving birth to her first child, she went into a studio and recorded a demo with a great rhythm section of Bill Cunliffe, Tom Warrington and Joe La Barbera. She sent the demo out and started getting responses. She soon recorded her debut album, Well Swung (Robo Records, 2010) and seven years later released Love And Mischief (SayWhyNot Music, 2017).

Truth Be Told, her third album, is the latest chapter in the artist's journey, discovering, as a jazz singer, who she wants to be. On it, she enlisted the great John Clayton as producer. The opener is a raucous, swinging, bluesy track, "There's Always Time For Lovin' ." Later, a medley of the Oscar Brown Jr. lyrics for "Moanin'/Work Song" (see YouTube video below) is done in a funky, throwback manner, utilizing an organ and flute quartet. She shows off her brassy voice on these tracks. "Nick of Time," the Bonnie Raitt hit, is covered in a sweet, stylistic, R&B manner. Her voice is wonderfully intimate and inviting.

"Do I Move You" is a strong, sexy blues number, with a tough, gritty guitar lead from Larry Koonse, and has a powerful and confident vocal. She delves into her gospel roots with the finger-snapping, a cappella title track, a song dedicated to George Floyd and other Black deaths at the hands of the police. In the end, her message is about hope and change. Wells' ability to show her emotion while singing these lyrics (which she wrote) creates a moving and powerful track. The album's closer is the traditional hymn, "I've Got a Feeling." Sung by Wells, with a large band, it is a full-throttle, uplifting, "Praise God" spiritual, which hammers home the message, "I've got a feeling, everything is going to be alright."

In many ways, "You Don't Know What Love Is" is her best performance on the album. It is done as a duet and sung as a requiem. Clayton's mournful bowed bass creates a haunting foundation which allows Wells to seemingly sing directly to each listener. Her voice, full of sorrow, of having loved and lost, is magnificent.

Wells' journey to becoming a jazz singer late in life is a beautiful thing to see and watch. At the age of 59, she is still figuring out what she does best and how to find her niche in the crowded world of jazz vocalists. This record shows that she sings a lot of things very well and some things extraordinarily well. Her voice has the ability, strength and emotion to connect to the audience, which is why she excels in live settings. Truth Be Told is a big step forward on her musical quest.

Comments