Karrin Allyson, Many A New Day (Motéma)
Songs Richard Rodgers wrote with lyricist Lorenz Hart from 1925 to the early 1940s have been among the standards most often played and sung by jazz artists. His later collaborations with Oscar Hammerstein for their succession of hit Broadway musicals seemed to lend themselves less to jazz interpretations. Initially inspired by Hammerstein’s personal decency and idealism, Karrin Allyson investigated possibilities in the Rodgers and Hammerstein repertoire and wrote arrangements for this beguiling collection. She enlisted pianist Kenny Barron and bassist John Patitucci as her only collaborators, with the exception that in “Edelweiss” she sings to her own piano accompaniment. The result is one of her finest albums in 23 years of recording. Ms. Allyson’s rapport with Barron and Patitucci is remarkable, from the gospel inflections of “Oh, What a Beautiful Morning” to the mystery of “Bali Hai.”
Bruce Mamont says
October 12, 2015 at 7:14 pmI’m a big fan of Karrin Allyson and eagerly look forward to her appearance later this month at Jazz Alley, at which I’ll add her new CD to my collection of those with her autograph. Will we see you there Doug? I know it’s quite a drive to Seattle.
Mike Harris says
October 12, 2015 at 8:46 pmI defy anyone to listen to this fine singer’s rendition of “Too Young to go Steady” and not make an immediate mental trip back to their adolescence, no matter how long the journey!
Alan Broadbent says
October 13, 2015 at 10:49 amInteresting comment you made about the two Rodgers periods, Doug. It’s a documented fact that with Hart the music came first. On the other hand, Hammerstein provided words first to which Rodgers wrote the music. In my experience this usually produces songs (even the best of them) that don’t have that extra ounce of inspiration or flight of fancy that can occur when a song is composed free of verse (I’m talking about composing here, not “bathtub whistling”).