My Content
Membership has its privileges! Sign up or sign in to gain full access to both All About Jazz and Jazz Near You. Learn more.
Mindy Smith: One Moment More
Oh my baby, when you’re cryin’
Never hide your face from me
I have conquered Hell and driven out the demons
I have come with the light to set you free...
"Open the Eyes of My Heart, Lord" indeed.
That said, the disc is worth its price for this cut alone. The mood does not get this dark again until cut ten, "Hard to Know," where the tremolo on the electric guitar summons the polar opposite of "Come to Jesus." The protagonist of "Hard to Know" is determined to do everything herself, knowing that she cannot:
Sometimes it’s hard to know
That you need to be saved
‘Til you hit bottom
And rattle that cage
Sometimes you just gotta keep
Digging away
Until you breakthrough
To the light of day.
The remainder of the disc is made up of finely crafted and well-produced songs—harder than Shawn Colvin and Allison Krauss and lighter (and more serious) than Shania Twain and Faith Hill. Ms. Smith’s voice is pure alto, even in timbre and certain in intonation. Her subject matter is not the silly drivel of the popular artist; it deals with struggle, anxiety, and apocalyptic renewal, as expressed in the ballad "Hurricane":
I need a hurricane to ravage through this place
I think it’s the only way
To salvage any sense I have left
To move on.
Mindy Smith deserves to be heard, and heard loudly.
For more information, see Mindy Smith and Vanguard Records .
Track Listing: Come To Jesus; Falling; Raggedy Ann; Fighting For It All; Train Song; It
Personnel: Mindy Smith
Title: One Moment More | Year Released: 2003 | Record Label: Vanguard Records
Tags
Related Articles
Genius Guide to JazzTop 10 Moments in Jazz History
by Jeff Fitzgerald, Genius
Published: November 12, 2018
Album Showcase
-
La Fenice by Keith Jarrett
Shop Amazon
Story of the Day
In 1998, having a blast playing with a big band made up of students from Thelonius Monk's Institute of Jazz, outdoors, surrounded by the gorgeous mountains of Aspen Snow Mass, I was thinking how much I wanted to create a smaller band that would have the same power of a big band, but with so much more room in it for each musician to shine. Little did I know this was the beginning of a beautiful journey, one that continues to this day, in which every concert, every recording is another beginning, another thrill, another joy. I conceived of the band as a septet 20 years ago, and later refined it to a sextet in 2005
Read more
By Amina Figarova
Member since: 2014
Cast Your Vote!
Help us identify the world's top 100 jazz venues. Voting takes seconds so please participate!
