Musical Quiz #1: What’s a great jazz album?
1) a collection of standards from the great American songbook?
2) jazz interpretations of less-than-traditional material?
3) a groovin’ ensemble playing off each other’s subtle nuances?
4) great music played by talented, emotive musicians?
If you answered “all of the above” then you win. The new release “On the Wind” by multifaceted vocalist Bre Gregg is the prize.
Tom Waite’s serpentine “Temptation” kicks off this set with Bre showing off her sultry voice interpreting provocative lyrics which morph into haunting howls. Bre (I just can’t bring myself to refer to her as Gregg) demonstrates full command of her instrument without sacrificing beautifully natural phrasing and emotional scoops, twirls and even the occasional gutteral growl (check out “I got it Bad”). An aspect of Bre’s singing that strikes this listener’s ear is the saxesque vibrato that comes in tastefully toward the end of sustained tones. Her laid back phrasing isn’t a Holiday knockoff of singing “behind the beat”. It’s more like a renegade comfortable feeling like wearing jeans to a jazz club.
There are standards-a-plenty taken from the pens of Ellington, Mercer, Jobim, Gershwin et ál. The cool rhythm section demonstrates a mastery of this genre as one would expect. The surprise comes in the form of a smartly sparse rendition of Midwest country songwriter John Prine’s classic “Angel from Montgomery”. This song and the Heyman/Levant classic from 1934 “Blame it on My Youth” show the entire ensemble at their most emotionally interpretive. Just listen to Bre sing the lyrics “If I cried a little bit” and you’ll feel it too. The up-tempo “Devil May Care” shows off the group at its swinginest. After Dan Gaynor’s cool-ass piano solo it’s just Bre’s vocal and Dan Stueber’s trap set, a brilliant piece of arranging. I’d be remiss not to mention Dave Captein’s playful, melody-laden bass solo on “Hit the Road to Dreamland”. As I mentioned before the rhythm section is all the way pro. The last two cuts have my favorite rhythm section though. It’s Bre’s dad Drew Finley. Mr. Finley chunks out some cool fifths on his acoustic guitar on the contrapuntal duet “You’re Just in Love”. First published in 1880, “In the Evening by the Moonlight” appears a pastel charcoal portrait of a father and daughter enjoying each other’s company just singing western songs. I’m hoping Bre will treat us to an entire album of this patriarchal offering.
What’s a great jazz album? Perhaps a more apt question would be, what’s a great album? My vote: On the Wind by Bre Gregg.
