This delightful duet album between vocalist Kendra Shank and guitarist John Stowell is filled with creativity, surprise and artistic joy. They mix up the tunes with standards and originals, lyrics and sounds as well as Shank bringing in electronic loops, effects and percussion for cameo appearances. A moody sounding background haunts the atmosphere for a reading of traditional pieces “Hard Travelin’/Motherless Child” while a fairly straightforward “Like Someone In Love” has fluid and flowing undercurrents for Shank’s crystal clear delivery. The two play a sort of peek-a-boo with “My Romance” while sounding like they’re at a late night campout on “Blue Skies.” Self-penned pieces such as “Walktalk” has some scatting vocals along with bass loops, while Shank gets quite frisky and percussive on the racquetball reading of “Za-Zoh”. A tribute to NYC is quite fun on “Rush Hour” and the impressionistic “Silent Photographer” creates visual black and white images for the ears. Impressive and thoughtful.
TCB Records
www.kendrashank.com