Search - Julie Christensen and Stone Cupid :: Something Familiar

Saga of the Slippery All-American Rule-Busting Torch Belter So now Julie sings jazz. Sort of, and in her own sweet way. This may come as something of a gentle, joy buzzer-like surprise to some, and a confirmation for others, but it should be a shock to none. Julie Christensen, more than most American vocalists, has danced around issues of idiom, convincing us of her commitment to the musical moment, whether it be twangy post-punk in the 80s L.A. band Divine Horsemen, or as longtime ally/singer in the poetic world according to Leonard Cohen an ongoing association which lighted her path to the big screen in the film Leonard Cohen: I m Your Man. Born and bred in the corn belt of Iowa, with musical chops honed in Austin and then Los Angeles, before settling in idyllic town of Ojai with family in tow, Christensen has been working on sculpting her artistic identity, even when not really trying. On her own two feet as a solo artist, Christensen has been quietly creating a vocalistic aesthetic based on the idea of a supple and liberated American style, granting herself license to visit turfs of pop, soul, punk, country and yes, jazz. Listen up to the way she gives new and personalized life to standards i.e. Blame it on My Youth, Billie s Bounce, But Beautiful tunes we ve heard countless times in countless time-place continuums. She doesn t play at singing jazz, borrowing textbook riffs and borrowed emotions, but instead invests herself in the subtle touches of timbre and the God-in-the-details styling. True to form, Christensen veers to the left of normal, too, with her take on Charles Mingus angular Orange Was the Color of Her Dress, Then Silk Blues, and the quirky delight of Hoagy Carmichael s Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief. Something Familiar opens, tellingly enough, with something unfamiliar: Just Like Marilyn is a fascinatingly lithe, lost gem from the songbook of great American songwriter Jimmy Webb (the chorus of which provides the album its title). Late in the album s sequence, Christensen s tune Hard to Love, written with keyboardist Tom McMorran, suggests Webb s influence in its harmonic twists and refusal to play by rote pop music rules, while stirring up emotive heat. True to this recording s pure-cum-impure origins, the tracks were recorded bi-coastally, and in quasi-passionately semi-jazz fashion. Basic tracks went down in late night Brooklyn sessions. Rhythm sections built around tasteful, do-the-right-thinging drummers Kenny Wolleson and Jeff Ballard, with bassists Don Falzone and Mary Ann McSweeney, girded the juicy stuff of Christensen s vocals and pianistic/arrangemental luster from Christensen s longtime kindred soul sister Karen Hammack. Back home in California, sweetening tracks were added, courtesy of dynamo trumpeter (and veteran of bands led by Airto and Flora and Les McCann) Jeff Elliott--on Have You Met Miss Jones? and Stolen Moments. Friend and frequent Christensen comrade Greg Liesz (whose spidery resume includes work with Bill Frisell, k.d. lang, and countless more) lent color pedal steel guitar and Weissenborn acoustic slide guitar. Christensen s bro Dave injected spicy blues licks on Today I Sing the Blues, at which point Julie demonstrates the ease with which she can also shift from the torch and standards trade to the slippery hot stuff of wailsome blues singing. This girl s voice just won t quit. For that, let us give praise and lend a generous ear. Idiomatic specifics can be sorted out later.