Lyn Stanley - Potions (From The 50's) (2014) SACD

  • 11 May, 10:39
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Artist:
Title: Potions (From The 50's)
Year Of Release: 2014
Label: A.T. Music
Genre: Vocal Jazz
Quality: DSD64 (.iso) 2,8 MHz/1 Bit
Total Time: 59:45
Total Size: 2.53 Gb
WebSite:

Tracklist:

01. Lullaby Of Birdland
02. Cry Me A River
03. Fly Me To The Moon
04. Hey There
05. I’m Walkin’
06. You Don’t Know Me
07. In The Still Of The Night
08. The Thrill Is Gone
09. A Summer Place
10. Love Potion #9
11. Teach Me Tonight
12. After The Lights Go Down
13. Misty
14. The Party’s Over
15. The Man I Love

Personnel:
Lyn Stanley - Vocal
Kenny Werner, Bill Cunliffe, Mike Lang - Piano/Organ
Johannes Weidermeuller And Mike Valerio - Bass
Joe La Barbera, Ari Hoenig, John Robinson - Drums
Glen Drewes - Trumpet/Flugelhorn
Thom Rotella - Guitar
Rickey Woodard - Tenor Saxophone
Tom Rainer - Clarinet
Luis Conte - Percussion

We Baby Boomers are a persnickety bunch. We revel in our nostalgia while keeping a jaundiced eye on current trends and how derivative they are compared with those we experienced when they were really new. Critics dismiss this nostalgia as wasted pathos, pining away for what can never be again. That is missing the point. Memory and reminiscence are powerful comforts much like a cat's purr. They help us recall and allow us to put the past into perspective in the relative safety of our own minds and time.

Music proves to be a most potent generator of nostalgia. Most properly, it acts as our life soundtrack, the Stones' "Gimme Shelter" in turbulent times and Vivaldi's "Winter" when calm. A well-programmed collection of songs, housed within a thoughtful theme can be a most effective nostalgia stimulant. Such programming maximizes the joy and pleasure of the music above and beyond the songs considered individually.

It is this invention in programming and repertoire choice that makes singer Lyn Stanley accomplished by any measure. Her debut recording, Lost in Romance (A.T. Music, LLC, 2011) revealed the singer's keen ear for the well-known and not-so-well-known in the American Songbook. By including the less known songs, Stanley has effectively expanded the Songbook, something she continues on Potions: From the '50s.

On Potions, Stanley assembles 15 pieces prominent in the 1950s. They are not all jazz standards or showtunes, though both are in evidence. Stanley's artistic care and attention to detail expresses itself from the start in George Shearing's superb "Lullaby of Birdland." Pianist Bill Cunliffe consorts with bassist Mike Valerio and drummer John Robinson, establishing a light Latin vibe over which Stanley delivers George David Weiss' piquant lyrics. Tom Rainer provides a woody clarinet to the mix, making the piece quite international. "Cry Me a River" is taken at a ballad pace, accented by Ricky Woodards's tenor saxophone. The effect is close, smoky, intimate.