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The Felicity Sessions

Sunny Side

Label: Self Produced
Released: 2023
Duration: 00:45:52
Views: 39

Tracks

1. ALMOST LIKE BEING IN LOVE - Written in 1947 by Frederick Loewe and Alan Jay Lerner - Arranged by Rob Montgomery 2. ON THE SUNNY SIDE OF THE STREET - Written in 1930 by Jimmy McHugh and Dorothy Fields - Arranged by Adam Lessnau 3. RAINBOWS ALWAYS COME WITH RAIN - Written and Arranged by Steve Walch, 2020 4. LAZY DAYS* - Written and Arranged by Adam Arredondo, 2020 5. NEW ORLEANS - Written in 1932 by Hoagy Carmichael - Arranged by Soren Andrade 6. DON'T FENCE ME IN - Written in 1934 by Cole Porter and Robert H Fletcher - Arranged by Adam Lessnau 7. YOU CAN DEPEND ON ME - Written in 1931 by Charles Carpenter, Louis M. Dunlap and Earl Hines - Arranged by Steve Walch 8. BOSTON SKUFFLE - Written in 1929 by Cladys Jabbo Smith - Arranged by Adam Arredondo 9. IS YOU IS OR IS YOU AIN'T MY BABY - Written in 1943 by Louis Jordan and Billy Austin - Arranged by Adam Lessnau 10. BEI MIR BIST DU SCHON - Written in 1932 by Shalom Secunda, Jacob Jacobs, Sammy Cahn, and Saul Chaplin 11. MY BLUE HEAVEN - Written in 1927 by Walter Donaldson and George Whiting

Personnel

Sunny Side

band / ensemble / orchestra

Adam Arredondo

trumpet

Andy Page

guitar, electric

Soren Andrade

guitar

Steve Walch

bass

Adam Lessnau

trombone, bass

Robert Montgomery

drums

Darold Alexander

vocals

Album Description

The Felicity Sessions were recorded in November of 2022 at Felicity Church in New Orleans, currently serving as an event space, and featuring great acoustics. I would not say this album has a live feel though, it is very smooth and polished—a showcase for a great working band from the Crescent City. Built around Darold Alexander’s voice, the sound sits within a timeless period of about 1930 to 1960, nodding to Nat King Cole as well as Louis Armstrong in press materials. The album kicks off with Lerner and Loewe’s 1947 “Almost Like Being In Love,” setting the tone. Two band originals are excellent. “Rainbows Always Come With Rain” has a timeless New Orleans vocal pop feel, and could be easily covered. The band gets a nice jam on it. The other original, “Lazy Days,” is predictably mellow, a nice rumbling slow blues that could suit an August afternoon in the Bywater. That deep groove continues on Hoagy’s “New Orleans,” by which time in the album you will have realized this is more than just a show band. While the sound has broad appeal to young and old, full time jazz fans and tourists (and I could see them playing a morning show outside Rockefeller Center), that is because of good presentation not lack of substance. Trad jazz festivals looking for younger acts to book should look them up. Last summer they took a three week tour to Charlotte, Baltimore, NYC, Albany, Buffalo, Cleveland, Toledo, Detroit, Louisville, Nashville, and Memphis. An itinerary that could be right out of 1929! “Don’t Fence Me In” was an interesting choice. It is not done as Western Swing, not even in the ’50s pop sense, just a straight performance in their own style, with some more adventurous solos than elsewhere on the album. They have a hot little romp on “Boston Skuffle” with a Louis-style solo, showing their chops on the Bourbon Street Parade side of the local sound. I noticed scanning YouTube a number of well chosen and very New Orleans titles in their set including “My Monday Date,” “Paul Barbarin’s Second Line,” and Danny Barker’s “Save the Bones For Henry Jones.” They know the material. The crowd pleasers here will be familiar to those without King Cake Parties on their calendar. “Is You Is or Is You Ain’t My Baby” and especially “Bei Mir Bist Du Schon” are both cultural touchstones that will give audiences the pleasure of recognition but are done with individuality and verve in extended productions feeling like cabaret routines. “You Can Depend On Me” stretches over a contemplative six minutes. A balance to the friskier numbers. “My Blue Heaven” sends the album out on a ’50s New Orleans R&B vibe. Having lived in New Orleans, the local culture honors a number of musical moments that followed the birth of jazz. The times when Fats Domino or Aaron Neville brought the sounds of the city to a national audience and reignited local pride exist in a permanent present in the local consciousness. No other city can claim as many of those moments. Sunny Side has produced an album worth looking up. If you visit New Orleans check their schedule, and if you are a scheduler, they should be on your radar. - Joe Bebco with The Syncopated Times

Album uploaded by Robert Montgomery