Three albums together, which show the development of a jazz singer over 20 years. The oldest recording is 'Straight Ahead' recorded in 1998 and which the singer says, 'showed what she had been working on for the previous 10 years. In 2001, Ms. Wardell recorded 'Until The Stars Fade' and, more recently, the album 'Noted', in the process winning the BBC 'Best Of Jazz' award in 2006.
A problem for any artist is that, having scaled the heights, the bar is often raised on the judgement of their performance. The mixed metaphor applies, too, to Ms. Wardell, who is a consummate jazz singer and balladeer, who can deliver the lyrics, sing some scat and vocalese and swing. Occasionally, for this reviewer, her formant is a bit thin in the upper register and though her scat is melodically brilliant it is sometimes dynamically confined. But then, I think that about Lee Konitz, too, so all it proves is that this review is independent, perhaps ill informed, but certainly not written by a marketing hack.
The first album, 'Straight Ahead', suffers slightly from too much low frequency in the mix, so that Arnie Somogyi's usually crisp bass loses some of that quality. However, this does not dim the singer's performance on an American Songbook selection, supported by a class trio. Jason Rebello, 10 years after his selection as 'Most Promising Newcomer of the Year' displays great maturity in the accompaniment and improvisation, with a solid foundation provided by Somogyi and Marc Meader.
Ms. Wardell takes on the Hampton Hawes tune Jackie with Annie Ross' vocalese lyrics and some scat thrown in. It makes an interesting comparison with her later albums, as does Young and Foolish, the ballad complete with the verse and a delightful solo from Rebello.
'Until The Stars Fade' again has Ms. Wardell presenting her treatment of 'standards' accompanied, for the first time, by Robin Aspland on piano. Jeremy Brown with Mark Taylor or Gene Calderazzo provide the beat, featuring some fine 'brushwork' examples.
Love For Sale has lost its original tawdry image of a sales pitch by what is now politely described as a 'sex worker' and become a popular jazz vehicle. The song was written in 1930, became a hit but was then banned, only later being permitted if the vocalist was 'black' (can you believe that?) The group give it a time/double-time feel and 8 minutes of excellent jazz with the soloists, Aspland and Brown, coasting through the changes.
On the ballad, For All We Know, Ms. Wardell exhibits a warm and tender tone and attention to the lyric. There is an occasional oz-flaw, like 'ter-night' and 'ter-morrow', but her diction is becoming polished. Sometimes I think that she lets a note end too soon but that is a matter of style.
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In addition to scat, 'Noted' displays Ms. Wardell's talent for vocalese. Of the three vocalese tracks, the Jazz Messenger's albums Moanin', Horace Silver and The Jazz Messengers and Cannonball Adderley's Somethin' Else, two have lyrics written written by her and applied to instrument solos. The transcriptions come from the Blue Note recordings at the time that the Jazz Messengers developed 'hard bop'. As Horace Silver described the group's style, 'We can reach way back and get that old time gutbucket, bar-room feeling with just a taste of the backbeat." No gutbucket here, however, but the regular supporting instrumentation is augmented with Alex Garnett's tenor, to literally lower the tone and provide a particularly fine solo on Autumn Leaves. Steve Brown takes over on drums and he and Jeremy Brown make a fine team. Robin Aspland on piano provides his usual exemplary accompaniment and improvisations.
The opening tune is Moanin', where in 'lyricising' Lee Morgan's solo, Ms. Wardell is required to hit B5 a couple of times (the one above the treble clef), which she does with some aplomb. Doodlin', Horace Silver's Db blues, with lyrics by Jon Hendricks has 'pop' credentials in that it was recorded by Dusty Springfield in 1965. This version has a nice groove and a hint of overdubbing on the call and response of the melody The Cannonball Adderley Quintet's Autumn Leaves, where the original album was one of the few where Miles was a sideman, has the intro and solo echoed nicely. Another Horace Silver composition Lonely Woman, is given a sensitive ballad treatment and the McCoy Tyner Blues On the Corner has Ms. Wardell scatting a blues in F delightfully and some clever ensemble with Aspland's piano.
All three albums are fine examples of jazz singing and, if you can't afford all the albums at once, then buy them serially, as and when. This listener's order of preference would be 'Until The Stars Fade', 'Noted' and 'Straight Ahead'. Ms. Wardell could stop thanking Mum, Auntie Gladys, Uncle Frank, Grandpa and all the staff on the deli counter at Waitrose, for their work on the album and their support throughout her career. She has developed into a singer of some moment and could tell us something about the music.
You can hear samples of Moanin', Autumn Leaves and Lonely Woman from the CD 'Noted', which will play on your embedded browser player, at [this link].
Additionally, you can hear samples of Get Out Of Town, Make Someone Happy and You're Looking At Me from the CD 'Until The Stars Fade', which play on the Windows Media player, at [this link] We couldn't trace any samples for 'Straight Ahead'.
By the way, if you're into solo transcriptions, you can download the notation and hear Lee Morgan's original solo on Moanin' at [this link]. Also, if you dig Cannonball Adderley, some of his solo transcriptions are available at [this link]
jazzorg. |
'Noted' 
'Until The Stars Fade'
'Straight Ahead'