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I Still Rise

Lisa Rich

Label: Tritone Records
Released: 2026
Duration: 00:53:29
Views: 457

Tracks

No Moon At All; The Two Lonely People; Beginner/How Can We Sing About Freedom?; Èstate; Take Five; Quiet Now; Ancient Footprints; Like Someone In Love; Never Let Me Go; It's Over Now (Well You Needn't)

Personnel

Lisa Rich

vocals

Marc Copland

piano

Drew Gress

bass

Dave Ballou

trumpet

Album Description

The recording and release of Lisa Rich's Long As You're Living in 2024 was the culmination of a major comeback. After 33 years of forced inactivity due to serious health problems, she returned with her voice in prime form and was showcased on one of the top vocal albums of the year. Its follow-up, I Still Rise, fully confirms her return to the jazz scene.

Lisa Rich grew up in Baltimore, had piano, voice and dance lessons, listened to her father's jazz albums, and as a teenager sang folk music at parties. After moving to New York and touring as a backup singer and dancer in a show band, she gained experience singing with a jazz trio and recorded her debut album, Listen Here. She possessed a beautiful voice, was a superior scat singer, gave sensitive interpretations to ballads, and always swung. Her second album, Touch Of The Rare, teamed her with arranger-composer-keyboardist Clare Fischer, and in 1987 she recorded Highwire, a superb set including five Chick Corea songs, finally released in 2019. Lisa performed with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, sang in China (the first American jazz artist there since 1949), performed in India, received three grants from the National Endowment for The Arts, served as artist-in-residence at the Smithsonian Institution, and appeared on NPR and the Voice of America.

In the late '90s it all stopped due to her back problems. No longer able to perform in public, she became a full-time vocal teacher, opened her own school, and conducted workshops and clinics. But finally the desire was too strong and Lisa became determined to return. Most significant were her three years of lessons with the great jazz singer and educator Jay Clayton (who passed away on December 31, 2023), a close friend whose final project was producing Long As You're Living. Listeners expecting nostalgia were surprised by the fresh and inventive improvising of a creative jazz vocalist. Long As You're Living reached #51 on the JazzWeek charts and made Bill Milkowski's top 100 of 2024.

I Still Rise reunites Lisa with the three musicians from Long As You're Living. "I met pianist Marc Copland back in 1978 — he was even on my first demo. I love his harmonic sense; when we play together I feel as if am singing at a different level. I've known bassist Drew Gress since his twenties; we had a house gig at the Pirate's Hideaway for years, so we go way back. Jay Clayton and I decided to use trumpeter Dave Ballou instead of a drummer. That changed everything — I found so much beauty in the space left by not having drums."

For I Still Rise, Lisa followed Jay Clayton's production methods. "I called the guys, picked the songs, had bare charts, and let the musicians do whatever they wanted. We recorded everything in two days and the rest was up to me." "Every song on I Still Rise was picked because of where I am right now. It is happy and it is sad, it is angry and it is joyful, just like I am." The program begins with an unrehearsed vocal-bass duet on "No Moon At All" — an unplanned improvisation with Drew Gress that serves as a perfect introduction to Lisa's voice — mature, wise, and filled with youthful enthusiasm.

Bill Evans' "The Two Lonely People," with lyrics by Carol Hall, is about the aftermath of a breakup, given a quietly emotional treatment with Copland's sympathetic playing.

Lisa composed "How Are You Gonna Sing About Freedom" channeling her frustration at today's turmoil. As a tribute to Jay Clayton, she placed it between two brief versions of her wordless "Beginner."

The Italian bossa nova "Èstate" features Lisa singing in Italian — lyrics expressing heartbreak beneath a sensuous melody. Lisa gives the words warmth and calm while Copland's piano hints at the mixed feelings.

Paul Desmond's "Take Five," a huge hit for the Dave Brubeck Quartet in 1960, has been recorded countless times. This rendition is unlike any other, with Lisa's unpredictable scat singing and Copland's solo taking the standard to unexpected places.

Denny Zeitlin's "Quiet Now," features heartfelt ballad singing highlighted by beautiful long notes. Here, as throughout, the playing of Copland and Gress is not to be overlooked.

Dave Ballou joins on "Ancient Footprints" — Wayne Shorter's "Footprints" outfitted with Kitty Margolis' lyrics. Ballou harmonizes with Lisa's voice and takes an adventurous solo that deepens the mood.

The veteran standard "Like Someone In Love" is given a joyful treatment with Lisa singing and scatting; Ballou and Gress also make worthy statements.

I Still Rise concludes with an emotional "Never Let Me Go" and Thelonious Monk's "Well You Needn't," performed with Mike Farris' lyrics as "It's Over Now." The scat singing, the comments by Copland and Gress, and the muted trumpet make one regret the CD is over — but fortunately, after a long pause, Lisa Rich's career is not.

"I am very grateful that I had the comeback. Now every day I sing, improvise, talk to musicians, and am part of the community. I hope to continue as long as possible. Singing has brought me joy and a purpose which I had lost for years. It brought my soul back and the creativity keeps me alive and happy."

–SCOTT YANOW
jazz journalist/historian and author of 12 books

Album uploaded by Evan Pittson