1. You Must Believe in Spring
2. Footprints
3. Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most
4. A Timeless Place (The Peacocks)
5. You Taught My Heart To Sing
6. Goodbye Pork Pie Hat
7. Never Let Me Go
8. Everybody's Song But My Own
9. Ruby My Dear
10. In a Sentimental Mood
11. Spring is Here
Louise Gibbs - Vocals
Kirk Lightsey - Piano
As I have suggested in earlier
reviews, jazz duets demand special qualities
from both participants. Unfortunately, these
qualities are not always evident on this duo
album. The repertoire mixes jazz standards
with vocalese versions of tunes that started
without lyrics (like Goodbye Pork Pie Hat
and Ruby My Dear).
Problems manifest themselves
in the very first track. Why choose a song
like Michel Legrand's You Must Believe
in Spring with its demanding intervals
which tax Louise Gibbs's intonation? Kirk
Lightsey's piano accompaniment adds to the
difficulties: playing chords which seem to
conflict with the vocal line. Footprints
and several subsequent tracks suffer from
some of the same troubles, with Lightsey's
piano leading Louise into off-key notes. The
two often seem at odds with one another.
Some songs pass without these
glitches but those introductory errors make
you wait uncomfortably for the next clash
or dubious pitching. Kirk Lightsey belies
his name by tending towards heavy-handedness.
Admittedly the choice of songs is refreshingly
unhackneyed but some of them don't suit Louise's
range. The wide leaps demanded by In a
Sentimental Mood set dilemmas for the
singer which she doesn't always solve.
The final track - Spring
is Here - actually breaks down shortly
after it begins. Kirk's introduction (using
the Prelude from Ravel's Le Tombeau de
Couperin) is clever, but Louise doesn't
know when to come in. The track falls apart
as Kirk gets his fingers in a twist and it
has to be started again. This is typical of
an album where there seems to be insufficient
empathy between vocalist and accompanist.
The publicity boasts that "the album consists
entirely of first takes" (apart from Spring
is Here). Spontaneity is very commendable
but perhaps the performers should have recorded
more takes to ensure more togetherness.
Tony Augarde
CD Reviews
33 Records 33JAZZ 172
