Lisa Rich: Long As You're Living

With Long As You're Living ace jazz vocalist m: Lisa Rich and a team of New York A-listers soar across a dozen tracks of superior jazz. The album, her first since Highwire (Tritone Records, 2019) is a tour de force of musical talents and it once again validates Rich as one of our finest vocal artists.

The title track opener, "Long As You're Living" hits with a hip 5/4 up-tempo take on the classic testament to optimism. Rich fires the tune up with swagger over Drew Gress' bass. Trumpet ace Dave Ballou takes a fine solo. Rich's scat chops shine over Marc Copland's comping, and he also delivers a fine solo. It is a perfect entrée. "Throw It Away," from the pen of Abbey Lincoln, offers a light bossa. A story tune, Rich tells the tale with apropos drama before an involved Copland solo. "When I Look in Your Eyes," a gorgeous minor-key ballad from the pen of Leslie Bricusse, has a fascinating introduction from Copland. Rich's take is deeply sensitive and gives us a sense of almost "being there." The track is a stunner. "New Morning Blues" is a drip-dropping scat swinger for Rich that swings heavy. She is instrumental in her scat style and right-on-target pitch. Fats Waller's "Jitterbug Waltz" has Rich easing into the triple-metered groove. Her pitch here on the angular, sequenced melody is pinpoint and she is a swinging killer. Ballou follows with a bouncing-for-joy solo and later joins Rich to deliver Waller's lines in unison.

Rich is 101 percent a pure jazz singer. No doubt about it. She is a throwback to the late Annie Ross, Anita O'Day and the great Sheila Jordan. She is as much a hipster as Mark Murphy, Jon Hendricks, or Giacomo Gates. She has a marvelously mischievous and refreshing approach to beat, lyrics, and dynamics. And, in addition to the chops to pull that off, she sings intimately to your ear. Unafraid to take risks, she brings you along on her journeys, continually presenting a surprise around every melodic and lyric corner. The late Jay Clayton co-produced along with Rich and Bob Dawson.

Rich's crew deserves large credit for adding to the expansive joy of this album. Pianist Mark Copland is outstanding with his reharmonized changes and visionary approach to many of these tunes. His comping behind Rich is perfection and his soloing is simply magnetizing. Appearing on six tracks, trumpeter Dave Ballou is butter-toned and rhythmically and melodically inventive. The drummer-less format illuminates and further propels these fine artists creatively.

Rich covers Thelonious Monk and Jon Hendriks's "Ask Me Now" with her smoky voice sheer perfection for the tune's vibe. This track is attractive all around. "Bye Bye Blackbird" gets a slow, darker treatment intro before Rich and Copland and Gress join in. Then, the scat choruses develop things into a swinging soiree. The dark intro returns to close things out. "Hyperchance/Drifting Dreaming" is an exercise in atonal modernity with Rich pointing pitch pops and dots with Copland and Dress doing likewise. Erik Satie's "Gymnopedie 1" melds into "Drifting Dreaming" with Ballou's Harmon-muted trumpet answering Rich's lush lines and dramatic dynamics. An artistic closer, for sure.

Long As You're Living is a grand prix of fine jazz from a truly masterful vocalist and her fine pit crew.