| Judi Silvano has become recognized as one of the leading progressive jazz
singers of
our day, and her newest release, Songs I Wrote or Wish I Did, is a
multiple-course feast that samples her various musical recipes.
Backed by a top-flight crew of organist Larry Goldings, guitarist Vic Juris,
bassist Essiet Essiet, and drummer Victor Lewis, Silvano can be heard
forging her unpredictable way through such original numbers as the catchy,
wordless melody "Listen to This," which features her well-sculpted soprano
scatting. Other fine Silvano compositions include "Make It a Classic," which
spikes its angular melody with quirky accents (and lets Juris' reverbed
guitar frolic in the background), as well as "Hey Boy," an infectiously
funky groove with Silvano's soaring vocal lines backed by multitracked
tones.
Among those songs Silvano wished she'd written are the Abbey Lincoln
chestnut, "When Love Was You & Me" -- which finds Silvano gracefully
navigating its soft-shouldered contours -- with a delightfully retro-toned
organ solo from Goldings. From the Jim Hall songbook comes the dreamily
lyrical "Something Tells Me" (written by his wife Jane), where Juris
accompanies Silvano with Hall-styled clarity. On the more avant-garde side
comes the trance-like "I Love Music," with unusual accompaniment by Juris
and Goldings (but with a more definite tempo than listeners know from the
original version by the Joe Lovano/Gonzalo Rubalcaba duo). And Lovano, who
happens to be Silvano's husband, makes a guest appearance on the Billy
Strayhorn classic, "A Flower Is a Lovesome Thing," offering agile flourishes
to match Silvano's long, languorous tones.
These tracks, and others, prove that Judi Silvano's fresh interpretations
let her lay claim not only to those songs she wrote, but to the ones she
wishes she had as well.
Drew Wheeler,
CDNOW Senior Editor,
Vocal/Theatrical |