Creative musings from ladies with ideas.
Left of center vocalist Judy Silvano teams up with guitarist Bruce Arnold for a series of short but sweet experimental tunes and musings. Just to give you an idea of the explorative mood, the list of “instruments” here also include Eventide Plug ins, Gordius Little Giant Midi Foot Controller, Jam Pedals and SuperCollide (!). As far as the tunes/improvs themselves, you get vocal echoes on “A Ha” and “HA” while high pitched voices abound with electric oozings on”Dryads” with Silvano whispering through electronics on “I Saw That”. Dreamy soundscapes abound on”Flutterby” while pieces like “That’s’ What That Is” sounds like a musical version of the Mirror Scene with Rita Hayworth in The Lady From Shanghai”. What is real and what is an illusion?
Argentine vocalist and composer Roxana Amed combines sounds and moods from Northern and Southern continents on this rich and flexible mix of originals and covers. She’s teamed with Marks Small/sax, Martin Bejerano/p, Tim Jago-Aaron Legos/g, Lowell Ringel-Edward Perez/b, Rodolfo Zuniga-Ludwig Afonso/dr in a mix and match basis, with her voice going from poetic on the nimble “Goodbye, Rose St” to flexible on the percussive teaming with just piano and drums on “Danza Del Viejo Boyero”. She dips into subtones to Bejerano’s drifting ivories on “Last Happy Hour” and gets fragile to DeRosa’s leading bas on “Milonga Por La Auscencia”. She does wonder’s with Wayne Shorter’s “Virgo” catching the drift with Small’s soprano, while intimate and deft with Jago on “Blue In Green”. Her dreamy voice floats to Small’s tenor on “Tumbleweed” and is a mist on “Peaceful”. Pastels in 3D.
Sandy-toned vocalist Lauren White teams up with pianist Quinn Johnson’s trio of Trey Henry/b Ray Brinker/dr along with some guests for poetic reads of some rich modern jazz themes. She and Johnson get dark along with Brinker’s mallets on a film noirish “Alone Together” and bluesy with guest Dolores Scozzesi on a rich take of Mose Allison’s “Ever Since The World Ended”. Some cleaver harmonies are heard on the hip “If You Never Fall In Love With Me” and a dash of Joni Mitchell is felt on a fresh take of Bill Withers’ “Just The Two Of Us.” A nice samba is sweet and comforting with Grant Geissman’s nylon strings on “Remembering the Rain” and White gives a poignant aria on Jimmy Webb’s “Shattered”. Personal profiles.