Pieces Of A Dream - Love's Silhouette (2002) [SACD]

Love's Silhouette contains 14 tracks that swing and sing in the easy-flowing and genre-crossing style that has made Pieces of a Dream a staple in contemporary jazz. The group, who celebrated 25 years in the music business in 2001, continues to push stylistic boundaries and add more hard grooves, a few Latin flavors, and more funk than on their previous chart-topping hit, Acquainted With the Night. This sonic diversity is mostly heard on the urbane, mid-tempo "Turning It Up" and "Mission Possible," while the reverent, bluesy, gospel-tinged "Remembrance (9/11/01)" is a plaintive, poetic elegy to that tragic day. The addition of saxophonist Eddie Baccus Jr. on several tracks was a good move and his sound helps the listener's interests to grow at a much faster pace than it took for these compositions to come to light. The title track was written several years ago but only made the cut after highly prolific composer/keyboardist James Lloyd played it for his family, who urged him to redo it. The beautiful song emerged from its own uncomplicated, loving silhouette, so to speak. Other major highlights include "I Feel Like Singin'" and the reharmonized update of "My Funny Valentine," which features the dynamic vocals of Tracy Hamlin and the bass genius of labelmate Gerald Veasley. The latter song closes the set and leaves the listener bathed in a glow of exotic retrospection and with a premonition of discovering something even more wonderful on subsequent listens. -- Paula Edelstein