Melissa Walker
I Saw The Sky
Enja
9409-2


These days, the repertoire on most discs by jazz singers suggest there might be some sort of stigma surrounding their identification as honest-to-god jazz singers. Only rarely do I get to hear a CD by a vocalist without some sort of pop, funk, or R & B stylings creeping in around the edges. There's nothing wrong with this, but it certainly is refreshing to hear a singer as gifted as Melissa Walker make a stand for the music she so obviously loves to sing: jazz. One of the reasons straightahead modern jazz vocals are so hard to pull off these days is that most of the repertoire has been done to death. Walker realizes this, and mixes a few originals (the title track, and Kenny Barron's "Twilight Song"), oddities ("Let's Take an Old Fashioned Walk"), and obscurities ("Nothing Ever Changes My Love For You", "Some Other Time", "I Get Along Very Well…") in with the tried-and-true ("I'm Old Fashioned", "My Shining Hour"). The result is a fresh, engaging, and curiously substantial set devoid of the pop trappings I have come to expect from most so-called jazz vocalists. Not once did I feel as if I was indulging in a guilty pleasure!

Walker's voice is flexible, smooth and inviting. She swings effortlessly - her approach to her material is neither forced nor fussy. Best of all, her singing is clear and completely free of the irritating mannerisms that average jazz vocalists seem to parade about as a substitute for real personality. She is as effective on the intimate ballads ("Some Other Time", "Twilight Song") and torchy pieces ("My Shining Hour") as she is on extroverted uptempo pieces ("I'm Old Fashioned", "The Face I Love"). Walker takes her cues from classicjazz vocalists such as Sarah Vaughan, Abbey Lincoln, Carmen McRae, and Betty Carter, but she has developed her own sound. Her backing band is impeccable and interesting: they are accompanists, but they don't fade into the background as a lesser band would. Though they practically take over on the title track - a poem by Henry Dumas set to a romping 6/8 piece written by pianist Shedrick Mitchell - Walker is unambiguously the focal point. The result is a perfect balance between great playing and great singing, not unlike Cassandra Wilson's stunning all-standards CD, "Blue Skies", from a few years back (though Walker and Wilson are completely different as singers). As an added bonus, guest soloists Stefon Harris, Makoto Ozone and Kenny Barron make significant contributions to several tracks.

If you have any inclination towards jazz vocals, Melissa Walker's "I Saw The Sky" is an indispensable CD.


--Dave Wayne


Tracks: 1. I'm Old Fashioned; 2. Some Other Time; 3. Nothing Ever Changes My Love For You; 4. My Shining Hour; 5. I Saw The Sky; 6. Twilight Song; 7. I Get Along Without You Very Well; 8. Let's Take An Old Fashioned Walk; 9. The Face I Love; 10. Return To Me; 11. I'm In Love


Personnel: Walker - vocals; Shedrick Mitchell - piano (except 1,4,6,10); Kiyoshi Kitagawa - bass; Clarence Penn - drums; Kenny Barron - piano (1,6); Makoto Ozone - piano (4,10); Stefon Harris - vibes (3,7), marimba (9); Vesselin Gellev - violin (2, 10); Deborah Bock - violin (2,10); Olga Terlitsky - viola (2,10); Ann Kim - 'cello (2,10).