Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Gretchen Parlato: In A Dream

386

Gretchen Parlato: In A Dream

By

View read count
Track review of "Azure"

Gretchen Parlato: In A Dream
Vocalist Gretchen Parlato is part Bobby McFerrin, part Theo Bleckmann, and David Binney. All men, yes. Parlato's voice is light as an apparition, ethereal and implied. She is fond of vocal gymnastics as is McFerrin. She shares a sense of humor in art with Bleckmann and a musical adventurousness with Binney. In A Dream is the recording Chet Baker would have made, had he been a woman. Both vocalists share an opaqueness in an otherwise transparent instrument.

Duke Ellington's "Azure" is a suitable vehicle for Parlato. It is one of Ellington's lighter pieces, one well-crafted for delicate voices like Parlato's. She delivers the lyrics in a breathy whir over Lionel Loueke's acoustic guitar. The neighborhood is vaguely Latin. Derrick Hodge's brief bass solo adds an organically integrated element to the piece, recalling the instrumentation favored by singer Cassandra Wilson. Much has been made of Gretchen Parlato, and for good reason.

Track Listing

I Can't Help It; Within; Butterfly; In A Dream; Doralice; Turning Into Blue; E.S.P.; Azure; On The Other Side; Weak.

Personnel

Gretchen Parlato: voice, percussion; Lionel Loueke: acoustic guitar, voice; Aaron Parks: piano, Fender Rhodes, synthesizer, glockenspiel; Derrick Hodge: acoustic bass, electric bass; Kendrick Scott: drums.

Album information

Title: In a Dream | Year Released: 2010 | Record Label: ObliqSound

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT



Gretchen Parlato Concerts


Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Sufi Women
Pat Thomas
Sunday Morning
James Robert Murphy AKA Austin Jimmy Murphy
Keep The Line Open
Joe Alterman & Mocean Worker

Popular

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.