LISA KIRCHNER UMBRELLAS IN MINT
Scan the covers of Lisa Kirchner’s six albums to date and the first thing you’ll note is that her flame-colored hair grows increasingly untamed. So, too, has her musicality grown steadily bolder and wilder. Serving up her first platter of all-original material, the dusky-voiced Kirchner reaches a new apex, pairing poetry as densely atmospheric as Mitchell’s or Waits’ with melodies that reflect her longstanding cosmopolitan flair, and melding influences as varied as Brel, Brecht, Weill, Gershwin, Becker and Fagen. Kirchner opens with “Salty and Blue (I Don’t Believe in Romance),” a sassy dismissal of moon-June songwriting tropes that sets the stage for the wide-ranging imaginativeness to follow. The dark, stormy percolation of “A Billion Stars Ago (In the Shadow of a Crow)” makes way for the chanson delicacy of “What About You?,” a misty-eyed paean to Paris which sighs and steps aside for the globetrotting “The Hudson Bay Inn,” a jaunty jumble of images worthy of Lorraine Feather. The spirited title track sketches Kirchner’s quest for an equally madcap paramour, while the twirling “Tim” recalls a vividly mottled past relationship. Her border-blurring travels continue through “Under the Paris Moon,” while the closing “Quarters and Dimes” provides a sprightly summation of her narrative panache. All in all, Umbrellas is an exhilarating crazy quilt. - Chris Loudon/Jazz Times
XAVIER DAVIS, piano; SHERMAN IRBY, Saxophone, Flute; RON JACKSON, Guitar;
BILL SCHIMMEL, Accordion; VICENTE ARCHER, Bass; WILLIE JONES III, Drums
BILL SCHIMMEL, Accordion; VICENTE ARCHER, Bass; WILLIE JONES III, Drums
DOWNLOAD STREAM OR BUY UMBRELLAS IN MINT
https://www.amazon.com/Umbrellas-Mint-Lisa-Kirchner/dp/B00BAMZS1S/
https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/lisakirchner6
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LISA KIRCHNER CHARLESTON FOR YOU
While the title suggests a nostalgic musical voyage, and vocalist Lisa Kirchner’s smoky, tremulous style seems distinctly retro, these dozen tracks are assembled from seven different sessions from the late ’90s. Together they shape an intriguing potpourri, featuring a dozen musicians Kirchner frequently collaborated with over the years—bassist Lonnie Plaxico, pianist James Weidman, drummer Adam Cruz and guitarist Ron Jackson among them—in various configurations. The playlist meanders all over the map, with four Kirchner originals, a trio of pieces co-written by Kirchner with pianist Galt MacDermot, and covers of tunes from such disparate sources as the Gershwins, Janis Ian, Dr. John and French composer Michel Emer. Charleston for You also covers a lot of physical miles. Pre-Katrina New Orleans is visited twice, with Dr. John’s spooky tale of voodoo queen “Marie Laveau” and Kirchner and MacDermot’s easy-flowing “Blue By the River (Port of New Orleans).” Kirchner’s lovely, introspective “Riverside” wistfully travels between Manhattan and San Francisco, while the edgy “Lights of L.A.” paints an urgently sinister portrait of Tinseltown. Emer’s “L’accordéoniste,” performed in French, recalls Piaf-era Paris, and the closing blend of Caetano Veloso’s velvety “Coracão Vagabundo” and Baden Powell and Vinicius de Moraes’ vibrant “Berimbau,” both presented in Portuguese, conjures a quiet Rio evening suddenly enlivened by Carnaval. It’s an awful lot to absorb in one sitting, but well worth the far-flung trip. -Chris Loudon/Jazz Times
While the title suggests a nostalgic musical voyage, and vocalist Lisa Kirchner’s smoky, tremulous style seems distinctly retro, these dozen tracks are assembled from seven different sessions from the late ’90s. Together they shape an intriguing potpourri, featuring a dozen musicians Kirchner frequently collaborated with over the years—bassist Lonnie Plaxico, pianist James Weidman, drummer Adam Cruz and guitarist Ron Jackson among them—in various configurations. The playlist meanders all over the map, with four Kirchner originals, a trio of pieces co-written by Kirchner with pianist Galt MacDermot, and covers of tunes from such disparate sources as the Gershwins, Janis Ian, Dr. John and French composer Michel Emer. Charleston for You also covers a lot of physical miles. Pre-Katrina New Orleans is visited twice, with Dr. John’s spooky tale of voodoo queen “Marie Laveau” and Kirchner and MacDermot’s easy-flowing “Blue By the River (Port of New Orleans).” Kirchner’s lovely, introspective “Riverside” wistfully travels between Manhattan and San Francisco, while the edgy “Lights of L.A.” paints an urgently sinister portrait of Tinseltown. Emer’s “L’accordéoniste,” performed in French, recalls Piaf-era Paris, and the closing blend of Caetano Veloso’s velvety “Coracão Vagabundo” and Baden Powell and Vinicius de Moraes’ vibrant “Berimbau,” both presented in Portuguese, conjures a quiet Rio evening suddenly enlivened by Carnaval. It’s an awful lot to absorb in one sitting, but well worth the far-flung trip. -Chris Loudon/Jazz Times
DOWNLOAD, STREAM AND BUY CHARLESTON FOR YOU
https://www.amazon.com/Charleston-You-Lisa-Kirchner/dp/B008GRHZ48
https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/lisakirchner5
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