Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Judi Silvano/Mal Waldron: Riding a Zephyr

132

Judi Silvano/Mal Waldron: Riding a Zephyr

By

View read count
Judi Silvano/Mal Waldron: Riding a Zephyr
The mood at Judi Silvano's recent Birdland engagement was decidedly bittersweet. She was there to promote a new duo CD with Mal Waldron entitled Riding A Zephyr, but the legendary pianist's unexpected passing last December transformed the proceedings from what had originally been intended as a celebration of their work together into a moving tribute to Waldron's hallowed career.

On the recently released CD, Silvano and Waldron team up on ten bulbous tracks, offering both artists' intrinsically unique approach to vocal jazz. With Silvano, distinction is found in her imaginatively woven scat style, as well as her eerily displacing vocal harmonics. Waldron's "Cattin'" and Silvano's "Dust" are prime illustrations - each carrying a healthy dose of both darkness and light, convention and inventiveness. When tackling lyrics, Silvano takes a similarly diversified approach. At times her style is jagged and abrupt, as with "Mal Waldron" (known instrumentally as "Flickers"), while at other times her voice is lush and inviting, as on Waldron's famous "Soul Eyes."

When it came to accompanying vocalists, Waldron ranks among the likes of Teddy Wilson and Jimmy Rowles as one of the most prolific in jazz history. For fifty years he made good singers sound great, and great singers... well, sound even greater. This set is no exception, as Waldron carefully constructs luminescent, pastoral environments for Silvano's voice to take flight, and he contributes several compelling, poignant solos.

All things considered, Riding A Zephyr offers an opportunity for vocal jazz fans to expand their horizons of appreciation - as well as get what may well be their last taste of a departed jazz luminary.

Track Listing

1. You 3:36 2. Finding My Love 7:32 3. Cattin' 3:13 4. Soul Eyes 8:10 5. Eyes on You 7:42 6. Riding a Zephyr 7:17 7. A Time for Duke 3:59 8. All Night Through 5:26 9. Dust 9:06 10. Mal Waldron 2:48

Personnel

Mal Waldron - Piano Judi Silvano - Vocals, Producer

Album information

Title: Riding a Zephyr | Year Released: 2003 | Record Label: Soul Note

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Tramonto
John Taylor
Ki
Natsuki Tamura / Satoko Fujii
Duality Pt: 02
Dom Franks' Strayhorn
The Sound of Raspberry
Tatsuya Yoshida / Martín Escalante

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.