This is the kind of disc that just makes you glad that there is a God and that He created music. 88 year old Carline Ray, who just recently left this earth for her heavenly reward, had a career that included stints with Swing Era bands lead by the likes Erskine Hawkins, Sy Oliver and The International Sweethearts of Rhythm. This disc will make you start googling for other material by this lady, as this one from someone born “four score and eight years ago” is a delight to your ears and soul.
She shows she had the jazz credentials as she scats through a knowing take of “Donna Lee/Back Home in Indiana” as well as a warm rich vibrato opens up into a nimble “When I Grow Too Old To Dream.”Her tone is thick and palpable on “Somewhere” and exudes charm on “A Child Is Born.” But, what she shows more than anything else is that this lady was raised in the church, and she knows how to witness! With guitarist Greg Skaff she delivers a foreboding Biblical warning on” Lazarus” (something our politicians should take a listen to) while her melding of voices with daughter Catherine Russell on the homily “Land Beyond the River” and yearning a capella testimony on “Hold On.” Whether you’re a “true believer” or a member of the ACLU, you’re going to want this disc and have your life enriched. WOW!
Carlcat Records