The fragile voice of Julie Christensen is presented in a variety of forms here, supported by a mix and match team of Michael Moss/g, Sergio Webb/slg, Steve Schwelling/dr, John Funkhouser/p, Karen Hammack/p and Chris Tench/stlg, all held together by Terry Lee Burns/b-str-arr. Many of the songs , like “Goldridge Road” and “All The River” have a folksy feel, while there are some creative moods as on the luminous read of Joni Mitchell’s “Hejira” and John Scofield’s “Away With Words”. Most vulnerable is a take of “Can’t Find My Way Back Home” is a perfect fit for Christensen’s delicate yearn. Wavering vocals that search for a promised land.
Linda Carone sings like she just popped out of a birthday cake on this Latin Lover reads of material. She’s sassy s all get out on the saucy “ Lemon Twist” and saunters across the floor barefoot on the percussive “Having It All”. The team of Luis Orbegosa/perc, Jeremy Ledbetter/p, Alexander Brown/tp, Ben Wittman/dr and Perry White-John Johnson/sax sizzle on the Caribbean “Mariguana Cha Cha Cha” and is bright on the picante “Tabasco”. She dries off for a moment and cools off on a luminous take of “ You Don’t Know What Love Is” and relaxes by the bar on “ Free and Easy”. Who let her off her leash?
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Vocalist Robyn Spangler creates warm and cozy duets with pianist Todd Schroeder on a wide ranging mix of covers. There are dark hues to Prince’s “Kiss” while a long shadow is cast on “New York State Of Mind”. Spangler reflects well on’Hello”and is folksy on The Eagles’ “I Can’t Tell You Why”, glowing on “Skylark”. Schroeder cultivates nocturne on ”How Deep Is The Ocean”, and the two are personal and private for their own “Second Wind”. All the chairs have been stacked up for this set.
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