This is a Portland Oregon based band lead by pianist Thomas Lauderdale and vocalist China Forbes.
As ecletic as it comes, they cover everything from cuban music to japanese and even croatian melodies. Lot's of french singing as well. Lauderdale and Forbes penned several originals on this album.
To me they sound like an augmented "big band" version of Dave's True Story, the band formed by David Cantor and Kelly Flint back in the late 1990s.
Overall the songs are very well done. Singing by China Forbes is quite good, though flat at times. Still, it's honest and quite sultry which suits me just fine.
The arrangements are quite complex and sometimes bombastic with plenty of horns, violins, cellos, mandolins, harps and choruses.
They borrow heavily from classical music and it shows in the arrangements.
Here's a brief assesment of the material:
1- Let's Never Stop Falling In Love: This one has a strong latin flavor, ranging from tango to cuban danzon. Good vocals by China Forbes. The arrangement is predictable though. You keep saying to yourself that you've heard it before, somewhere...
2 -Anna (el negro zumbon): this track had potential. Unfortunately, the poor spanish diction by Ms Forbes pretty much ruins it for me.
3- Hang On Little Tomato: sounds very 1930s with a vintage clarinet intro. Interesting.
4- The Gardens Of Sampson & Beasley: this one has a definite Bossa-Nova sound with harps and other embellishments. I don't like the lyrics very much. China Forbes vocals sound a little flat.
5- Veronique: this is the track featured on the Slim Devices Squeezebox network player publicity. It turns out the staff at the company are huge fans of this group. It's a slow, dark, somber song with an excellent trumpet solo. Vocals could be better, but they do work. Perhaps because the vocalist is also the trumpet player.
6- Dansez-Vous: this one has a latin flavor but comes with custom french lyrics. I don't know how well Ms. Forbes french is, however.
7- Lilly: This one sounds like a knockoff of Dave's True Story's Lilly-110-140, using a similar latin arrangement and title name. This one though, sounds more authentic to me.
8- Autrefois: I like this one. Nice piano and violin intro. Good thing the booklet has the english translation. The (french) lyrics are not bad at all. China sings this one with much more depth of emotion than the earlier Danzez-Vous, IMO.
9- U Plavo Zoru: This is one of the most pleasing tracks on the album. A real amalgam of musical styles yet it manages to sound unique. It starts with harp and cello, with a mid-eastern flare (a la scheherezade), with some intriguing vocalization by Ms Forbes immediately following. Lauderdale then enters with his signature, sparse, piano style. A nice trumpet solo goes next.
The song, like Ravel's Bolero keeps building up with emotion. China Forbes sings the lyrics in Croatian. Again, I don't know how good her enunciation is, but it works for me. Could easily be the best track on the album.
10- Clementine. Beautiful little song, much more conventional in nature compared to the preceding tune. Again, Lauderdale piano counterpoints China's poignant singing. She shows her tender side here. One of my favorites.
11- Una Notte A Napoli. An italian styled track complete with spoken intro and singing in Italian. It mixes in some latin percussion and brass to give it a more lively feeling. The idea is great and it works for the most part. However, I think the chorus is overblown. Way too loud. They could have used fewer background singers.
12- Kikuchiyo To Mohshimasu. A Japanese song actually recorded in Japan with mostly japanese musicians. Among those a fine steel guitar player that originally recorded the tune in the 1960s. Excellent and haunting.
13- Aspettami. This track has the sound of the beautiful brazilian "choro" music. Though an original tune, this one has very familiar harmonies. It sounds a bit like "trust in me" as sang by Holly Cole in her "Blame It On My Youth" album. Although this one has a faster tempo.
14- Song Of The Black Swan. This is an instrumental written by the great brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos. Hauting and beautiful. Just piano and cello. It sounds like a natural, spontaneous, live recording. Complete with gentle moans from the female cellist. A great way to close an album.
The album is very well recorded. It does sound quite loud in level, but it's no different from most recordings done nowadays. It was mastered by Bernie Grundman.
As ecletic as it comes, they cover everything from cuban music to japanese and even croatian melodies. Lot's of french singing as well. Lauderdale and Forbes penned several originals on this album.
To me they sound like an augmented "big band" version of Dave's True Story, the band formed by David Cantor and Kelly Flint back in the late 1990s.
Overall the songs are very well done. Singing by China Forbes is quite good, though flat at times. Still, it's honest and quite sultry which suits me just fine.
The arrangements are quite complex and sometimes bombastic with plenty of horns, violins, cellos, mandolins, harps and choruses.
They borrow heavily from classical music and it shows in the arrangements.
Here's a brief assesment of the material:
1- Let's Never Stop Falling In Love: This one has a strong latin flavor, ranging from tango to cuban danzon. Good vocals by China Forbes. The arrangement is predictable though. You keep saying to yourself that you've heard it before, somewhere...
2 -Anna (el negro zumbon): this track had potential. Unfortunately, the poor spanish diction by Ms Forbes pretty much ruins it for me.
3- Hang On Little Tomato: sounds very 1930s with a vintage clarinet intro. Interesting.
4- The Gardens Of Sampson & Beasley: this one has a definite Bossa-Nova sound with harps and other embellishments. I don't like the lyrics very much. China Forbes vocals sound a little flat.
5- Veronique: this is the track featured on the Slim Devices Squeezebox network player publicity. It turns out the staff at the company are huge fans of this group. It's a slow, dark, somber song with an excellent trumpet solo. Vocals could be better, but they do work. Perhaps because the vocalist is also the trumpet player.
6- Dansez-Vous: this one has a latin flavor but comes with custom french lyrics. I don't know how well Ms. Forbes french is, however.
7- Lilly: This one sounds like a knockoff of Dave's True Story's Lilly-110-140, using a similar latin arrangement and title name. This one though, sounds more authentic to me.
8- Autrefois: I like this one. Nice piano and violin intro. Good thing the booklet has the english translation. The (french) lyrics are not bad at all. China sings this one with much more depth of emotion than the earlier Danzez-Vous, IMO.
9- U Plavo Zoru: This is one of the most pleasing tracks on the album. A real amalgam of musical styles yet it manages to sound unique. It starts with harp and cello, with a mid-eastern flare (a la scheherezade), with some intriguing vocalization by Ms Forbes immediately following. Lauderdale then enters with his signature, sparse, piano style. A nice trumpet solo goes next.
The song, like Ravel's Bolero keeps building up with emotion. China Forbes sings the lyrics in Croatian. Again, I don't know how good her enunciation is, but it works for me. Could easily be the best track on the album.
10- Clementine. Beautiful little song, much more conventional in nature compared to the preceding tune. Again, Lauderdale piano counterpoints China's poignant singing. She shows her tender side here. One of my favorites.
11- Una Notte A Napoli. An italian styled track complete with spoken intro and singing in Italian. It mixes in some latin percussion and brass to give it a more lively feeling. The idea is great and it works for the most part. However, I think the chorus is overblown. Way too loud. They could have used fewer background singers.
12- Kikuchiyo To Mohshimasu. A Japanese song actually recorded in Japan with mostly japanese musicians. Among those a fine steel guitar player that originally recorded the tune in the 1960s. Excellent and haunting.
13- Aspettami. This track has the sound of the beautiful brazilian "choro" music. Though an original tune, this one has very familiar harmonies. It sounds a bit like "trust in me" as sang by Holly Cole in her "Blame It On My Youth" album. Although this one has a faster tempo.
14- Song Of The Black Swan. This is an instrumental written by the great brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos. Hauting and beautiful. Just piano and cello. It sounds like a natural, spontaneous, live recording. Complete with gentle moans from the female cellist. A great way to close an album.
The album is very well recorded. It does sound quite loud in level, but it's no different from most recordings done nowadays. It was mastered by Bernie Grundman.