Truth be told, I get an over-abundance of female jazz vocalist albums that want to be reviewed, and 90% of the time I listen and think “I’ve heard this a million times” and try to be gracious in writing something up about the album.
Well, this release by Gina Harris (no relation to yours truly) grabbed me by the ears for a couple of reasons. First, she’s got a voice that is effortlessly clear and swinging, deftly going from highs to low like a 3 ring circus flying trapeze artist. Second, she doesn’t sing a song as much as tell a story, which is a wise choice these days among soulless chopsmiths or tired chanteuses. Lastly, she selects tunes to interpret with the wisdom of Solomon, pulling out obscurities and overlooked gems and making you wonder “Why hasn’t anyone done this song before?” after each musical novella.
She mixes and matches colors with a team of Bryan Dyer/b-voc, Kristen Strom/sax, Lila Sklar/vi, Alex Kelly cel, Jason Martineau/p-udu, John Shifflett/b, Time Bukley /dr and percussionists Salar Nader, Stephan Junca or Michael Spiro, depending on the continental drift.
Harris creates inviting and enticing spaces between lyrics, drawing you into her allure on with piano and bass on the seductive read of “Wives and Lovers” while she delivers Konnakol vocal percussion along with Nader’s tablas on the mix of dervish and bebop on a turmeric flavored “Night In Tunisia”. A duet with some Debussy’d piano displays her vulnerability on “Soon It’s Gonna Rain” while before you know it she joins in with some Barry White-inflected R&B vocals by Dyer to create a vocal wall of percussion on the spell binding read of Prince’s “Kiss”.
Choirlike voices melded together lead you into a noir alley of “Angel Eyes” along with some Martineau’s fiery fisted piano, while the ivories create a wave along with Spiro’s percussion as Harris rides the longboard as she scats along the samba’d “No More Blues”. Harris, as shown on the emotive “Later”, is able to tell a convincing tale of emotion with dynamics that fit the part as well as anything Barbara Stanwyck did on the screen. She’s got the creativity, confidence and chops to be a major player, coming way out in front of the list of singers you may not have discovered yet. Check this one out!
https://www.ginaharris.com/music