Product description
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NKA318
Review
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Gretchen Parlato has redefined how a generation views
vocal jazz.
Reviewing Gretchen Parlato is a bit presumptuous, consider this a
public service announcement as her latest effort will street on
October 8, 2013. A live CD and DVD packages captures the magic
and intimacy of what transpired at Rockwood Music Hall in New
York City over two nights. To attempt a critique using a somewhat
antiquated phrase as vocal jazz as the litmus test of her work
seems painfully lacking when considering her talent. Parlato is
not a jazz singer but a vocal artist that paints vivid imagery
with a pristine voice that can play catch and release with a
single note as well as any of her contemporaries.
The band is actually made up of two different ensemble casts over
this engagement. The first group consists of Taylor Eigsti, Alan
Hampton and Mark Guiliana while the second cast of musical
co-conspirators is once again made up of Eigsti along with
Burniss Earl Travis II and the fabulous drummer Kendrick Scott. A
one word review that would capture the essence of this stellar
project would be connectivity. Parlato casts a broad net and cuts
a wide if not breathtaking sonic path that is simply the
harmonious union of kindred spirits. Musical cohesion or synergy
with a vocalist of Parlato's gifts and the accompanying band is
stereotypically lacking, the band is merely an afterthought but
it is the obvious chemistry that inspires Parlato to pull off a
live release worthy of serious accl. All the stars were indeed
in perfect alignment.
While the nine live tracks on the audio disc are pulled from her
three studio releases, these are imaginative transformations of
previously released material into previously unimagined lyrical
portraits of deceptively subtle nuanced flavor and harmonic
development. Four of these nine tracks appear on the DVD which is
and edited beautifully. This is not Parlato at the top of
her game. This is a most self portrait of the evolution
of perhaps the most gifted vocalist to burst onto the scene in
the last twenty five years. A jazz singer, a vocal artist, a
lyrical poet all seem to be futile attempts at labeling a talent
that truly transcends genre.
A stunning . A sublime experience. You never rate
genius, you celebrate it. --Brent Black - Bop N Jazz.com
Since her professional debut ten years ago, Gretchen Parlato has
filled her band book with contemporary soul, r&b, pop and
Brazilian songs. While of the tunes on her new CD/DVD Live in NYC
have appeared on her studio albums, In a Dream and The Lost and
Found , the live versions reveal stunning transformations these
songs have made through live tours. The album features Parlato s
longtime pianist Taylor Eigsti with two different bass/drum
teams, Alan Hampton & Mark Guiliana, and Burniss Earl Travis II &
Kendrick Scott. Guiliana s broken time feel gives Butterfly ,
Within Me and Holding Back the Years completely different
atmospheres than their studio versions, while Scott s lazy 6/8
groove throughout much of All That I Can Say enhances the overall
interpretation (The same can be said about Scott s unique
push-pull feel throughout On the Other Side ). Some of the other
changes are quite subtle, like Parlato s newly asymmetrical
phrasing on Weak and the audience-as-ethereal-choir on Better
Than . But the biggest changes come on a song that seems
continually in flux: Wayne Shorter s Juju . Hampton s free-form
bass introduction has morphed into an atmospheric rhythm vamp.
Guiliana s drums bring a new urgency to the groove, and Parlato s
improvisation flirts with Indian scales while delaying the
buildup to the solo s climax. Eigsti is more active behind
Parlato than in earlier versions and he takes a solo of his own
after Parlato finishes. Hampton s interaction seems more active
here as well, and he is much more prominent when Parlato comes
back for the final melody statement. The ending of the
arrangement has also been extended with a repeating vamp and
Parlato s chanting of the last line, followed by a gradual
dissipation of the sound. Now that Parlato has given us a
before-and-after picture of this quartet repertoire, hopefully
she and Eigsti will record some of their duet performances for a
future album. --JazzHistoryOnline.com
A singer with a deep, almost magical connection to the music.
--ie Hancock
