Kat Reinhert - Spark (2015)

Tracklist

01. Walk Into the Rain
02. Heavy
03. Spark
04. Paper Bag
05. My Arms
06. Limelight
07. Little Compartments
08. Naked
09. Prison
10. Simple Illusion
11. Without a Fight
12. How Do You Know
13. Skyline

In a music world where songs are accessible more than ever to due to advanced technology, artists come and go, but for the most part the ones that remain leave a trace that keeps the listener coming back for more. Modern jazz artist Kat Reinhert is that artist and performs in her second independent release Spark thirteen topnotch jazz melodies that shine with dexterity and diversity.

Spark contains a feel and a sound that does not stay in one place at one time in terms of lyric, rhythm, and tone. With the assistance from producer and pianist David Cook and revered musicians Jo Lawry, Shayna Steele, Sam Minaie, and Perry Smith, name it she touches on every genre of music without denying the traditions of the jazz from standard progression to modern sophistication. The record is an open music box of memorable songs that play a little over five minutes each and more than one may become a favorite that may cling to the listener. Highlights include, the opener “Walk into the Rain” a fast pasted melody with a trademark jazz solo, title track “Spark” that may begin comparisons of Reinhert’s vocals to other great vocalists of jazz and pop Sergio Mendes’s Brasil ’66 Lani Hall and songwriters Carol Bayer Sager and Burt Bacharach, for listeners that may have had a good dose of top 40 radio the melody and lyricism of “Paper Bag” may breathe similarities of Katy Perry’s “Firework,” especially with the question “do you ever feel?” However, aside from that trait “Paper” embraces a playful spirit, one of the bonuses on the album is the cover version of progressive rock band Rush’s “Limelight” that possesses a radio ready sound, “Naked” is a throwback to the standards a la Peggy Lee in “Fever,” for a slight diversion to more contemporary tones “Without a Fight,” turn the lights down low and relax to the enticing soft bossa nova of “How Do You Know,” and to conclude the album “Skyline” slightly resonates with Pachelbel’s Canon in D major but more so to pop and slow jazz.

Whether listeners prefer long drawn jazz solos to soft and contemporary rhythms to their jazz music and enjoy vocalists such as Cassandra Wilson, Diana Krall, or Stacey Kent, Kat Reinhert has arrived with “Spark.”

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