April Varner - April (2024) [Hi-Res]

April starts the recording by highlighting her love of the blues with her original “April Blues”, performed with a mature delivery and phrasings that are in lock step with bassist Reuben Rogers’ beat.

The punchy horns on “I’ll Remember April'' begin a swinging romp through the classic tune. Before trading solos with trumpet player Benny Benack III, they trade improvised vocaleses. It’s great to hear the conversational ease of these improvisations. A favorite practice of April’s, not too many folks still feature vocalese as part of their performances.
I love how April has command of this fast tempo, making it all sound easy .
April simply and purely, without apology, loves to sing. She shows this penchant on a couple of popular melodies: first, the beautiful “April Come She Will”. She and Russell Malone deliver a powerfully simple rendition of the Simon & Garfunkel classic. Second, she tackles Prince’s “Sometimes It Snows in April”, an emotional lyric that requires a depth of feeling to perform. It takes time to find the right way to convey loss in a song,
and April handles this delivery well.

On Frank Ocean’s prayerful “Dear April”, April is at her most vulnerable. Favoring short endings and long phrases, she repeats key lyrics hauntingly, while the supporting waves of backing, layered vocals- provided by Theo Bleckmann and April herself- make the
song feel like a mantra.

In “April Give Me One More Day”, the motion of the medium-slow arrangement shows off April’s phrasing. Her vowels and turns reminds me of the brash balladeering of one of my favorites, Anita O'Day.
I love the melody of “April Again”. It's the feel of the arrangement, the presence of Caelan Cardello’s tasteful organ and piano playing, and a great solo by Dayna Stephens on soprano that really shows off the group interplay.

On “April in Paris” - a swinging duo with pianist Caelan Cardello - both are taking chances on phrasing and style to keep the performance fully in the moment and fresh.

It’s a nice souvenir of one of the classic standards. It takes maturity for any musician to play a slow ballad, and towards the end of the
record, “Lost April” shows off April’s proficiency at these kinds of tempos. She has such a connection with the group on this one, especially the time of the drummer, Miguel Russel. Every note means something.

The title and lyrical images in April’s original, “Who Let April Back Into My Dreams?”, show off April's songwriting chops. The chromatic melody could be a future standard, and April delivers the wistful lyric with confidence and vulnerability.

This recording shows that April isn’t afraid to show her breadth of influence, and it is matched by a real depth of feeling, discipline, vocal prowess, and active listening. On “April” - a letter to herself, perhaps - April Varner shows how much she believes in this music. I believe her.

Liner notes written by Award-Winning Jazz Vocalist/Composer, Sachal Vasandani

Vocals: April Varner
Piano: Caelan Cardello
Guitar: Russell Malone
Bass: Reuben Rogers
Drums: Miguel Russell
Trumpet/Vocals: Benny Benack III
Tenor/Soprano Saxophone: Dayna Stephens

Tracklist:
1.01 - April Varner - April Blues (4:40)
1.02 - April Varner - I'll Remember April (3:52)
1.03 - April Varner - Joy of April (5:39)
1.04 - April Varner - April Come She Will (2:15)
1.05 - April Varner - April Give Me One More Day (4:33)
1.06 - April Varner - April Again (4:29)
1.07 - April Varner - Sometimes It Snows In April (7:12)
1.08 - April Varner - Dear April (4:06)
1.09 - April Varner - April In Paris (3:16)
1.10 - April Varner - Lost April (5:38)
1.11 - April Varner - Who Let April Back Into My Dreams? (4:24)