Pianist/composer Mike Holober creates an album of sepia toned themes and moods with vocalist Kate McGarry and a team of Marvin Stamm/tp-fh, Dick Oatts/fl-as-ss, Jason Rigby/ts-cl-bcl, Mark Patterson/tb, John Hebert/b and Brian Blade/dr. McGarry’s wispy voice works well on the delicate impressions with subtle horns and lithe rhythms as on “ Book of Sighs” and the folksy “Grace at Sea.” Gentle flutes create a fluffy flow on “When There Were Trains” while Holober ambles with the reeds on “Sighs Matter.” The biggest surprise is an almost ambient take of Janis Joplin’s “Piece of My Heart” that mixes muted horns as an almost anti-Big Brother mood. Pastels are the color of the day here, and it works well for the misty mornings of your mind.
Palmetto Records