Re: Dionne's new album of Sammy Cahn songs released next month
Posted: Tue Apr 12, 2011 3:48 am
and another great one from Jazz Police:
Her Pocket Full of Miracles – Dionne Warwick’s “Only Trust Your Heart” (2011, MPCA)
Written by Andrea Canter, Contributing Editor
Monday, 11 April 2011
In the musical world of “sure” things, one has to count the songs of Sammy Cahn and the voice of Dionne Warwick. So what if Dionne Warwick recorded an album drawn from the Sammy Cahn songbook? Celebrating 50 years as one of America’s most lauded singers, Dionne Warwick has released her first contemporary jazz collection, Only Trust Your Heart. And you need only trust your ear – despite her 70 years, her five decades of performing and recording in the pop, soul and R&B veins, Dionne still possesses one of the most emotive voices in American music. She can still move you with a sigh, with a whisper, with phrasing that transcends genre.
Drawing on songs associated with Frank Sinatra, Dionne selected 11 of Cahn’s most engaging melodies and two from Jack Wolf and his collaborations with Sinatra (“I’m a Fool to Want You”) and Burt Bacharach—of course a significant figure in Warwick’s early career (“Keep Me in Mind”). And this is not Warwick’s first jazzified effort. Sarah Vaughn was a family friend and significant influence; she performed with Count Basie, Joe Williams and Duke Ellington, regarded Lena Horne as a mentor, and appeared on a CBS special featuring an allstar list of jazz artists. A Cole Porter album for Clive Davis’s Arista label was deemed “too jazzy” and was re-recorded before release back in 1990. Maybe Only Trust Your Heart is Dionne’s redemption.
For the most part, the arrangements rely on a core ensemble of pianist Raymond Angry, bassists Adam Blackstone and Neil Jason, and drummer Cindy Blackman Santana, with additional horns and strings extending the sonic backdrop on some tracks. But it is that small ensemble support that helps Dionne kickoff the recording and title tune with a warm tropical swing—she spends significant time in Brazil these days and there’s a definite air of samba, while “You I Love” lilts with big band sunshine. Some songs, like “Wonder Why,” might give us pause to “wonder why” Warwick is not known as a jazz diva, her phrasing, her note and rhythmic choices all on par with the great songbook interpreters. But then we get to “Keep Me in Mind,” and quickly recall those great R&B and soul hits of the 60s, and just wonder at the longevity, the consistency of that voice, the storyteller who puts so much of her life into every note.
Maybe she saves the best for last, a simple arrangement of “Pocketful of Miracles” with just pianist Raymond Angry, her voice now a deeper bronze, maybe a bit more conversational, every bit as straight-to-the-heart as ever. Is Dionne Warwick really a jazz singer? Not that it matters, but at least on Only Trust Your Heart, she rises above each melody and lyric to create her own message, in her own musical language. Call it jazz, or just call it Dionne Warwick.
Her Pocket Full of Miracles – Dionne Warwick’s “Only Trust Your Heart” (2011, MPCA)
Written by Andrea Canter, Contributing Editor
Monday, 11 April 2011
In the musical world of “sure” things, one has to count the songs of Sammy Cahn and the voice of Dionne Warwick. So what if Dionne Warwick recorded an album drawn from the Sammy Cahn songbook? Celebrating 50 years as one of America’s most lauded singers, Dionne Warwick has released her first contemporary jazz collection, Only Trust Your Heart. And you need only trust your ear – despite her 70 years, her five decades of performing and recording in the pop, soul and R&B veins, Dionne still possesses one of the most emotive voices in American music. She can still move you with a sigh, with a whisper, with phrasing that transcends genre.
Drawing on songs associated with Frank Sinatra, Dionne selected 11 of Cahn’s most engaging melodies and two from Jack Wolf and his collaborations with Sinatra (“I’m a Fool to Want You”) and Burt Bacharach—of course a significant figure in Warwick’s early career (“Keep Me in Mind”). And this is not Warwick’s first jazzified effort. Sarah Vaughn was a family friend and significant influence; she performed with Count Basie, Joe Williams and Duke Ellington, regarded Lena Horne as a mentor, and appeared on a CBS special featuring an allstar list of jazz artists. A Cole Porter album for Clive Davis’s Arista label was deemed “too jazzy” and was re-recorded before release back in 1990. Maybe Only Trust Your Heart is Dionne’s redemption.
For the most part, the arrangements rely on a core ensemble of pianist Raymond Angry, bassists Adam Blackstone and Neil Jason, and drummer Cindy Blackman Santana, with additional horns and strings extending the sonic backdrop on some tracks. But it is that small ensemble support that helps Dionne kickoff the recording and title tune with a warm tropical swing—she spends significant time in Brazil these days and there’s a definite air of samba, while “You I Love” lilts with big band sunshine. Some songs, like “Wonder Why,” might give us pause to “wonder why” Warwick is not known as a jazz diva, her phrasing, her note and rhythmic choices all on par with the great songbook interpreters. But then we get to “Keep Me in Mind,” and quickly recall those great R&B and soul hits of the 60s, and just wonder at the longevity, the consistency of that voice, the storyteller who puts so much of her life into every note.
Maybe she saves the best for last, a simple arrangement of “Pocketful of Miracles” with just pianist Raymond Angry, her voice now a deeper bronze, maybe a bit more conversational, every bit as straight-to-the-heart as ever. Is Dionne Warwick really a jazz singer? Not that it matters, but at least on Only Trust Your Heart, she rises above each melody and lyric to create her own message, in her own musical language. Call it jazz, or just call it Dionne Warwick.