Terrie Richards Alden/Howard Alden: Love

Concord Records lent guitarist Howard Alden to Nagel Heyer to allow him to record with his vocalist wife, Terrie Richards Alden. The result assures that this loan will not end up as a bad debt entry in the books of either label. It is not easy to sing with just guitar backing, even if it is your husband's. Straying from the pitch, for example, is much more obvious than if there were a piano and rhythm section present. But the Terri Alden pulls it off with ease and elan as she goes through a play list of well-known standards. The singer doesn't have a particularly powerful set of pipes, nor does she have spectacular range. But what she has, she uses quite well. Her voice can be described as cute and coy. She also has a fine sense of the lyrics and can interject a surprise or two along the way as on "How Deep Is the Ocean", going up the scale when one anticipates her going in the other direction. Clearly the play list of songs with love as the theme, has been selected with Alden's' vocal strength well in mind. A tune such as" Travelin' Light" fits perfectly with both her technical and emotional equipment. There's a lost little girl looking for some sympathy flavor to her rendition. Moreover, the pace never gets very fast during this session and the humourous, fun side of love is not on the agenda. Nevertheless, this is a pleasant interlude of song performed by a good singer and one of the more prominent jazz guitarist around. Recommended.