I’ve heard vocalist Chanda Rule on a supporting role on albums by Sound Liberation, but this one of her own is a first round knockout. She’s got a voice that was baptized in the church, while her delivery and enunciation oozes with intimate clarity. She mixes and matches self penned material with personal reads of standards with Kirk Lightsey/p, Wolfram Derschmidt/b, Dusan Novakov/dr and Thomas Kugi/ ts, with the overall mood like a stroll through a modern art gallery.
Her own “Oshun’s Song” is an embracing and exotic journey that mixes gospel with African colors, with the lyrics flowing with an almost subconscious ease, while she is hip and yet restrained as she pulls the lyrics like Salt Water Taffy on the swinging “Sapphire Dreams” and creating a bohemian theme with Klemens Pliem’s flute on the poetic “Seeds.” Her relaxed delivery glistens on “Skylark” and gives a delicate bluesy hue on the palpable enunciation of “Monk’s Mood” while cozy to Lightsey’s striding ivories for the sublime “Somewhere Over The Rainbow.” With tribal animal chants from the horns of Mario Rom/tp and Clemens Salesny/bcl Rule gets earthy and exotic on the evocative “Afro Blue” and gets into a modal mood with an earnest concert read of “I Cover the Waterfront.”
The old joke used to be that “I’d pay to listen to hear read from the phone book.” What do we say now? “I can’t wait to listen to her sing her apps?” I’ll take anything, just get her out here to So Cal!!