The soulful, piquant voice and gently
swinging phrases of Gretchen Parlato have been drawing the attention
of jazz listeners since her self-titled debut in 2005 and the
confident follow up, 2009's In A Dream. Not
that there was every much reason for doubt. An
alumni of the Thelonious Monk Institute, Parlato's career has been
gaining momentum ever since she won the 2004 Thelonious Monk
Institute International Vocal Competition. She works incredibly hard
across a range of styles, and sometimes seems to be everywhere. A
ready collaborator, Parlato's unmistakable voice has been heard by
this critic on at least two recordings in the last year – on David
Binney's Greylen Epicenter
and a track from up-and-coming trumpeter Suresh Singaratnam.
Her
latest work. The Lost and Found (ObliqSound)
finds Parlato continuing to grow, producing the album, writing much
more of her own material, and once again working with many of the
people from her 2009 release, including her core rhythm section of
Derrick Hodge (bass) and Kendrick Scott (bass), as well as Robert
Glasper, who is associate producer and shows up on Fender Rhodes here
and there. The biggest surprise of the album is not its quality –
one would expect it to be good. But it is remarkable to learn just
how much of Parlato has involved herself in every aspect of
music-making here.
Parlato's
choice of covers has always set her above many other singers. Though
I would imagine she's not shy of the occasional tune from the Great
American Songbook, you're probably not going to find her going into
the studio with "Fly Me To The Moon" or "Stormy
Weather." No, Parlato opens with an understated take on Simply
Red's "Holding Back The Years," a song which takes some of
us back to the ninth grade, which which the singer makes cool all
over again. Lauryn Hill's tune (by way of Mary J. Blige) "All
That I Can Say" gives Parlato the chance to make the most of the
lines in the chorus: "Genuine,
seraphim/Sweeter than cinnamon/Heaven-sent gentleman/Sent him here for
loving him." Works for me. Singer/songwrtier Josh Mease
contributes the bubbly, fanciful "Me
And You,"featuring Parlato jamming with Glasper. And on the
charming "Alo Alo," by Paulinho da Viola, the arrangement is
all Parato in its multitracked vocals and percussion.
For those with more straight-ahead jazz
tastes, Parlato leads her band through Wayne Shorter's "Juju"
(showing the Shorter's Coltrane influence), and her rendering is
dense, challenging, and highly original – no small feat for such a
tune. Parlato is joined by tenor Dayna Stephens, and the singer and
the horn blend tones for a unique texture. No less ambitious is a
Parlato/Glasper arrangement of Bill Evans' "Blue in Green,"
which features Taylor Eigsti on a cover that is as straight ahead as
the album gets, without ever abandoning Parlato's signature voice and
phrasing.
Five of the fifteen tracks on this
album are stand-alone Parlato compositions, most of them very strong.
"Winter Wind" is a bossa nova with a fascinating series of
shifts and breaks in tempo and mode, with a thrilling closing minute
that shows the singer making the most of a simple phrase. The
playful, flirting "How We Love" can't help but make you
smile and feel more attractive, and the languid "Better Than"
is a song that seems to deliver on the flirting. The loose,
impressionistic "Henya," provides enough space to show
Parlato's group – Hodge, Scott, and Eigsti – trading ideas
throughout. Strongest of all is "Circling," which has a
fine groove, interesting changes, a poetry to the lyrics – and it
seems to a be song that only Parlato could write and perform with
this ensemble.
The most ambitious tracks are those
Parlato has written in collaboration with others. While a remix of
2009's "In A Dream" seems a bit unnecessary and the group's
arrangement of "Henya" never seems to find a center of
gravity the remaining three tunes offer many rewards. The title
track, "The Lost and Found," written by Parlato and guest
tenor Stephens, is complex, disquieting, and magically arrives in
the same ambiguous place it began. "Without A Sound," by
Eigsti and Parlato, bassist Hodge creates a hypnotic layering of
three different bass parts, over which the singer's voice floats,
cloudlike. And, call me a sucker for a guitar every time, but who
can turn down the cheerful fingerpicking of Alan Hampton's "Still,"
which he co-wrote and sings in a wistful duet with Parlato? I've
listened to the song about 50 times in the past month, and I still
love it.
Simply said, there's so much music on
The Lost and Found – some of it straightforward, smart,
radio-friendly, and some of it rich, manifold, formidable – that
it's a challenge to take it all in. But what Gretchen Parlato does
again and again on this release – more so now as a writer and
producer -- is to keep the texture of the music and the sound of the
band unified. She does this, first at foremost, of course, with her
remarkable voice. But with The Lost and Found, one
can hear Parlato's musical intelligence and imagination fully in
residence. This is a jazz musician who has found herself.
Gertchen Parlato – voice, percussion
Taylor Eigsti – piano
Derrick Hodge – bass
Kendrick Scott – drummer
Taylor Eigsti - keyboards
Robert Glasper – Fender Rhodes
Alan Hampton – guitar, voice
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