WILD NIGHTS! WILD NIGHTS! Jay Clayton & Kirk Nurock: Unraveling Emily

The  poetry of Emily Dickenson is cleverly and vividly interpreted by pianist Kirk Nurock and vocalist Jay Clayton. But it’s not as simple as that; both add improvisations,  montages and their own idiosyncrasies to the famed works of the poetess, as vocal percussion opens the album on “Still We Know (Prologue) and the selection of a “detuned” piano make for quirky moments as on “Hope,” “Emily’s Piano” and the eyebrow-raising “Wild Nights.”
Clayton’s voice is confident yet elastic, stretching through colors and centuries on the gentle “All These and More” and the razor’s edge starkness of “Will There Really Be A Morning,” while the two show they can also swing as on “I May Remember Him” and “ A Something In A Summer’s Day.” A loaded gun!

Leave a Reply