Kieran Brown: Loving You

Youthful, conservatoire-trained vocalist upstart Kieran Brown brags in the opening song from her debut recording, Loving You:

I've got a song that longs to be played
Raise up my flag, begin my parade
Then watch the world over start comin' up clover
That's how it's gonna be, watch me
You're gonna hear, you're gonna hear from me.

Jackie Ward originally sang Andre Previn and Dory Previn's, "You're Gonna Hear From Me" in the movie Inside Daisy Clover (Warner Bros., 1965). Ward was a studio vocalist who provided the voice for Daisy Clover, the tomboy protagonist of the film, who longs for something greater for herself.

Brown is no deprived tomboy looking for something greater, because she has created it all for herself. Emerged in New York City in 2023, fully formed and ready to sing, Brown has impressive credentials. Trained at Berklee College of Music and the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, Brown brings, besides a fine vocal technique, a capable ability to both compose and arrange, both talents in evidence on Loving You.

The recording comprises 10 selections: eight standards and two Brown originals. What stands out immediately are the arrangements of these songs. Brown arranges half of the selections, while noted pianist-arranger Joe Black arranges two, and session guitarist Aaron Matson, three. Attentive to the Art Pepper admonition that one never begins a set with a ballad, Brown kicks things off with her infectious and bouncing take on the Previn tune.  

Matson arranged the piece using a traditional rhythm section with his guitar, coupled with alto and tenor saxophones, trumpet and trombone in the horn section, giving the ensemble a big-band vibe and sound. He scores the song with a piano-voice duet opening that quickly heats into a hip and swinging show tune containing a circuitous instrumental unison that recalls the Claude Thornhill Orchestra of the late '40s. Brown sings with all the confidence and chops well advanced of her youthful age.

Next, Matson presents his arrangement of the Gershwin-DeSylva song, "Do It Again" (first heard in the 1922 Broadway show The French Doll). This arrangement is a throwback to Miles Davis' 1949 Nonet and its groundbreaking recordings, all arrangement-driven and highly-polished works. The gravity of the arranging here is as vital as that found in The Complete Birth Of The Cool (Capitol, 1954, recorded in 1949) "Do It Again" emerges smelling strongly of the Gil Evans-arranged "Boplicity." Both share languid and serpentine lead lines that are understated and pronounced, clothed in their respective eras.

Block's arrangement of "Emily" elevates the Mercer-Mandel composition with a lush string quartet. No solos, the ensemble playing leads the way with some clever scoring uniting the traditional 32-bar form with the salon, producing a light classic. Brown embraces "Alfie" between her two originals, "I'll Love You Just the Same" and "Little Bits of Magic." The three songs form a very Bacharach-ian triptych, replete with melody above all. Brown draws the youthful optimism of Burt Bacharach's '60s and '70s through all three songs, forming a homogeneous whole. The charm of Brown's voice is best heard in this trio of finely crafted pieces. She forms a condensed, rose-colored world revealed intensely in a brief 13 minutes.

The recording closes with two diametrically opposed songs that bode well as an example of quantum musical entanglement. Ray Charles' "Hallelujah, I Love You So" struts in on the strength of Joey Ranieri's funk-ridden skipping bass and Brown's playful high alto. The second verse adds Joe Peri's drums, with the third punctuated by Brown's punchy full-band arrangement of the lead line. Brown exudes confidence in this treatment. She tempers that confidence with a modicum of humility in delivering "Somewhere," Bernstein and Sondheim's homage to love.

Brown enters a field of artists crowded with exceptional talent. She enters equally exceptional with a lot more to say.

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