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Jane Monheit -
Surrender (Concord)
Released: April 24, 2007
A colleague who does a mostly Latin jazz radio program got a copy of
this; he was gushing about it, and promised he'd lend it to me for a
weekend listen. He never got around to that, so I ended up iTuning this
one on its release date last Tuesday night.
Wow.
Ms. Monheit has never disappointed, and while she's always played around
with Brazilian rhythms, this disc offers even a twist on that - in that
many of them have been slowed down to ballad tempos. All the better to
savor Ms. Monheit's fine voice, and the backing group, led by hubby and
drummer Rick Montabalno. The band hangs back, and the focus is always on
Ms. Monheit.
Yeah, I'm gushing, too. Six-thirty on Wednesday morning, and I'm plugged
into the 'pod, the only one smiling on the Metro on my way to work.
The highlight for me is "So Many Stars," one of my favorites from Sergio
Mendes and Brazil '66. This one features Mr. Mendes himself, and while
it certainly echoes the take from the classic 1968 album, "Look Around,"
Ms. Monheit brought her A-game to this track.
The ability to sound both intimate and powerful on the same track I'd
once attributed only to Barbra Streisand (think "He Touched Me"), but
Ms. Monheit's version of the Mancini-Mercer classic, "Moon River" may
now be the definitive version that goes around in my head.
It's that good.
Tough to pick out other highlights from this offering, which will become
a classic in my collection. I'll be savoring this one ten years from
now.
Popular music press continues to treat Ms. Monheit as the "youngster
with promise."
Please. Stop it.
She fulfilled that promise a long time ago; and here's hoping Her new
record label, Concord, has the gravitas Sony apparently didn't - in
making sure the world knows it.
Highest recommendation.
Four microphones (out of four)
- Doug Boynton
(04/28/07) |
