Search - Jay Clayton, Fred Hersch :: Beautiful Love

Sparkling Gem

Samuel Chell | Kenosha,, WI United States | 01/15/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"A companionable recording that gets better with each new listening. I became aware of Jay Clayton very recently and was surprised to learn that she's often labeled as an "experimental" singer, an epithet that can not serve her well with the larger audience she deserves. Her instrument, to my ears, is instantly communicative if not irresistible--at times pure and silvery, like Paul Desmond's alto; at times, venturesome and rhapsodic like Coltrane's soprano. She "allows" her tones to take flight; there's no forcing of the voice, no contrivance, artifice, gratuitous drama. With a vocalist this free of mannerisms, there's no problem going along with her, whether she takes us to a fresh new reading or a complete reinvention of the material. That said, the performances on the first half of the program sound occasionally tentative to me, but by the time Jay gets to "Day by Day" the artist has established an organic relationship with her material. The performance of Cole Porter's "Everything I Love" is particularly revelatory and incandescent. Hersch's sensitive support, whether as accompanist or as an alternate melodic voice, exhibits the selflessness of a true musical master. Nothing is out of balance: he impresses by calling so little attention to himself.Apart from reissues, this album strikes me as one of a mere handful of significant releases in jazz or popular music over the past ten years."