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Alyssa Allgood: Out Of The Blue
ByNaturally, saxophonist Chris Madsen adds his two cents and so much more to awesome effect in John Coltrane's "Noticing the Moment (Moment's Notice)" and Shorter's "Speak No Evil." In the first, a lyrical mission statement for the project if there is one, he harmonizes with Allgood but also ventures out on his own, trailing her command of melody with cool afterglow. In the second, he complements the bandleader's mahogany intonation with audible moonlight. Madsen further epitomizes the vibrancy of the engineering, which gives the album the feeling of having been recorded live in a club. This atmosphere reaches peak density in the album's closer, a sumptuous take on "Mirrors" by Joe Chambers.
But it's Allgood, with that fullness of expression found in so few vocalists cut from current cloth, who attracts the brightest spotlight. Sounding even more mature than she did on her first album, she is quintessential in every regard. The artistry of her scat and vocalese, whether it floats like a butterfly in "It's You or No One" (also a marathon run for Plaskota) or stings like a bee in Joe Henderson's "If," she treats the art of wordless singing as it should bewhich is to say, as an instrument in its own right. But, in the same way that I often marvel at the pencil sketches of master painters, I find myself marveling just as well over her straightforward balladry. There's something about her delivery, for instance, of Horace Silver's "Peace" that speaks to the very heart of her persona and how much more light it has to give before it runs out of wick. The end result is an album of such charm and intelligence in equal measure, it'll having you saying all's good with Allgood at a time when the same might not be said for the world at large.
Track Listing
Watch Me Walk Away (Dig Dis); Noticing The Moment (Moment's Notice); It's You Or No One; Speak No Evil; Beatrice; Peace; If; Only A Memory (Ceora); Moanin'; Mirrors.
Personnel
Alyssa Allgood
vocalsAlyssa Allgood: voice; Dan Chase: organ; Tim Fitzgerald: guitar; Chris Madsen: saxophone; Matt Plaskota: drums.
Album information
Title: Out Of The Blue | Year Released: 2016 | Record Label: Jerujazz Records
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