Search - Claire Daly :: Swing Low

Swings from the bottom of her barisax to the top!

10/18/1999

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is a CD which has tunes that are not overplayed with nice chord changes, melodies, solos and rhythms that will sneak up on you and leave you humming them for days after your hearing them. Claire has a tone that sounds like herself and no one else-it has been described as velvet steel- and especially has a very good command of all the registers on her chosen axe, a low A Baritone sax. Her tone can be soft and breathy on ballads or very direct, almost forceful on the medium tempo tunes. Good use of modulation, varying power and tonal qualities, even within one song-check out "I Thought About You " for example. There is also some very nice interplay with tenor saxist George Garzone on three latin flavored tracks "Little Old Lady", "I've Grown Accustomed To Her Face" and his own jazz tango "The Gooch". There are no really superfast burners here, but each tune is well crafted and not overly long, the longest being 6:16. The rhythm section of "Peolpe Like Us" bandmate Dave Hofstra on bass, Eli Yamin on piano, and Peter Grant on drums (using brushes and sticks) provide very comfortable, sympathetic support as well as tasty solos. "I've Got The World On a String" and "You Make Me Feel So Young" both have nice foxtrot tempos suitable for dancing and that is a compliment. Jazz needs more of that as well. "For All We Know" opens with bari playing the melody in upper register, almost tenor like in timbre, over bowed bass and then settles into a nice medium slow tempo, again with a well thought out solo from Claire who can hit some very clean low notes without the burping honking sound that some would have using this horn. This one is hers all the way. There is Roland Kirk's "Lady'd Blues" taken at a medium slow pace with somewhat of a New Orleans type march influence and a triplet feeling form Grant on drums, while on the breaks in the melody Claire goes from altisimo to the bottom of the horn again with seemingly efforless ease. Yamin has a nice swinging solo on "I Thought About You" as well as several nice other turns sprinkled throuhout the CD. Hofstra solos on "..You" and ..."String" and trades eights with Grant on "Sharp Turn". Is this cutting edge, advanced jazz? No. Is it an example of the type of solid mainstream jazz that would appeal to a very large market of the music's aficionados? IMHO, you bet! My rating is for the overall very good musicianship, quality of solos, choice of material, no fade outs(one of my pet peeves) and the fact that no matter what the tempo, it swings. My rating actually is 4&1/2 stars, but I leave the extra star for the next release.My only complaint, albeit a minor one is that there are not a few more tunes on the CD. But that will also leave us awaiting her next one. Claire has made three CDs with the Joel Forrester led group "People Like Us" which you might also like to check out-especially "No...Really", but I feel this is her best recorded effort, especially sound wise. I hope that we will hear more from Ms. Daly under her own name."

"Swing Low" swings

MusicFanFromSeattle | Seattle | 08/17/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I received this CD as a gift (which is a great idea for anybody out there looking for a gift for a jazz lover!) and was later lucky enough to hear Claire play in person. "Swing Low" is a fine example of her abilities, and is a very listenable recording. Claire has great control of tone, quality, and dynamics. Her playing is both senstive and powerful. I've since bought two additional copies and given them to friends, both of whom also loved the recording. Can't wait to hear more from Claire!"

On Fire

Dave Sewelson | New York, NY | 08/17/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This CD just plain swings. Claire is on fire lately and "Swing Low" provides us with more evidence. This music is a digital delight. The only thing that could make this record better would be more tracks."