One of the most denigrated categories is “jazz female vocalists.” Most either try to sound like a quirky indie like Norah Jones, or try to jump on the Diana Krall bandwagon by ONCE AGAIN revisiting the Great American Songbook. Well, if you want something else, here are two artists that have the pulse of jazz, but delivered in fresh voices. What a joy!
Emma Larsson writes all of the material here, and it’s worth listening to. She bonds with a flexible team of Shedrick M itchell/p, Eric Revis/b, Billy Drummond/dr and Kenneth Whalum III/sax and uses her sharp cornered voice in an elastic and yet swinging way.
She has a wonderfully playful time toying with beats and spaces her, her lazy cadence on the dreamy “Before The Rain Comes” toys with Drummond’s cymbal work, whiel the subtle shifts in tempos veers in and out of the spaces of “Watch My Garden Grow” and “No Ordinary Love.” She holds notes for an extra breath as Mitchell tip-toes through “I Sing to the Sky” and coos impressionistically on “Consolation” and floats over the crisp groove of the rhythm team, hold back the reins ever so slightly on “In A Quandry.” This lady has GOT to tour to promote this disc!
Carrie Wicks is in a quartet setting with Bill Anschell/p, Jeff Johnson/b and Byron Vannoy/dr with a mix of covers and collaborations with Ken Nottingham. Her voice is relaxed and relaxing, almost conversant. Her tone is Guinness rich and foamy, assured and confident as she gently prances on “Ghost of a Perfect Day” or playfully swings on the taffy pull read of “It Could Happen to You.” She has an instrumentalists timing as she cadences on “Desolation Mood” and weaves around elliptically through Vannoy’s cymbals on “Watercolor Rhyme.” Her sandy voice wisps with Anschell on “Dreamtime” and her duet with him on the closing “Solitude” sounds like she’s pensively talking to herself. A wonderful way to listen to music.