Jeff Denson - Outside My Window (2018)

Outside My Window recalibrates Denson's already expansive array of creative outlets by giving equal weight to his vocals. Working with a stellar quartet, including saxophonist Dayna Stephens, pianist Kari Ikonen, and drummer Ronen Itzik, Denson delivers an emotionally taut program weaving together striking interpretations of iconic songs and deeply felt originals. His mid-career emergence as a supple and engaging singer isn't coming from left field. Denson's music covers a lot of stylistic territory, but my voice is a thread running through each one, whether I'm singing or not, he says. I was a singer before I was a bass player. Going into the jazz world I put my voice away for a long time. This is the first time I'm singing throughout an entire album, and these songs are a direct continuation of the music I've been writing and arranging. Denson's arrangements of four songs by other artists don't reimagine the pieces as much as filter them through his subtle sonic palette, starting with a gorgeous, lapidary version of Grace. He delivers a sparse, intensely poignant rendition of Abbey Lincoln's Bird Alone, a re-harmonized 6/8 version of Peter Gabriel's In Your Eyes and a riveting arrangement of Fell On Black Days by Chris Cornell, a piece that serves as a tribute to Soundgarden's vocalist, who's music served a high school soundtrack for Denson. Denson's four original pieces stand up impressively next to his interpretations, from the Beatlesque optimism of For A Brand New Day to the clangy prepared-piano accompaniment of the anguished Have We Really Gone This Far? On a melancholic piece that feels like it beamed in from a universe neighboring Miles Davis's In a Silent Way, Denson contributes an atmospheric wordless vocal on Through the Mist, a tune he's radically rearranged since the collective trio Minsarah introduced it in 2006. The closing title track is a wistful invitation into Denson's verdant musical world.