Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Allison Paris: Second Chances

102

Allison Paris: Second Chances

Allison Paris: Second Chances
Allison Paris is a jazz vocalist based on the South Shore of Long Island's Suffolk County. Theese thirteen standards are categorized as a part of the annual four seasons of the calendar and reflect the emotional roller coaster of a love relationship. The songs are cleverly arranged to appear in the correct order just as summer follows spring..

Allison Paris and her group do a nice job of moving this musical project along. From the sound of it, she's worked with these musicians often and there is a keen interaction between the vocalist and them. It is no small feat to breathe life into some of these warhorses that have been overexposed over the years. After a tenor sax obligato and later solo from Jeff Lang, Paris provides a heartfelt version of "Lover Man."

In fact, the group is quite good at providing support for Paris through the session, especially Lang and trumpeter Carl Fischer. On "Mean to Me," after Paris digs into the Ahlert/Turk song, Fischer takes a brief high-note solo and again on the following "Invitation to the Blues." The late Bobby Forrester passed away a few months ago and this is believed to have been his last recording. I saw Forrester play several times over the years and he was a much sought-after keyboard player.

As a constructive thought, "Mood Indigo" is marred by the use of synthesizer strings, under Fisher's trumpet work, that envision this as a lounge number and cheapen the presentation. Likewise, half of these songs, albeit from the Great American Songbook, are ready for retirement for a few years. I'm sure that the patrons of a suburban club are happy to hear a good singer performing good songs but wonder if the big city gigs demand a little more for the set list.

Quibbling aside, these players do a fine job of working with the material that has been selected and provide the stimulus for both the vocals and a user-friendly audience.

Track Listing

Lover Man, Mood Indigo, I'm Beginning to See the Light, Don't Blame Me, Crazy He Calls Me, Embraceable You, Autumn Leaves, The Nearness of You, Mean to Me, Invitation to the Blues, Black Coffee, Good Morning Heartache, I Wish You Love.

Personnel

Allison Paris,vocals; Jim Ahrend,piano, arrangements; John Ray,bass; Kevin Dunne, drums; Carl Fischer, trumpet,flugelhorn; Jeff Lang, C-Melody sax, baritone sax, tenor sax, flute; Brian Ungar,guitar; Bobby Forrester,organ.

Album information

Title: Second Chances | Year Released: 2004 | Record Label: Unknown label

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

Eternal Moments
Yoko Yates
From "The Hellhole"
Marshall Crenshaw
Tramonto
John Taylor

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.