Customer Reviews

Shade

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you are not already a Holly Cole fan, but enjoy jazz, her latest album, "Shade", may be a good way to introduce yourself to her special artistry. If you are a fan, you will smile at her continued creativity. An eclectic but effective mix of songs unified by the common theme of having something to do with summer, the album starts off with an almost "smooth-jazz""-like mechanical-sounding percussion sequence that had me dreading what was to follow. But I listened beyond that intro and was intrigued by the blend of styles and influences she acknowledges in the instrumental accompaniments, while maintaining her own distinct imprint on the vocals. Her interpretations sound unlike any other you've heard of the same song, so some of them might take some getting used to if you are familiar with other more familiar covers. But after a couple of "listens", her versions not only sound original, they sound "right". This album is a real treat for any season!

The other 5/5 reviews say enough to let you judge if you will like the music, though I would add that if you liked any of her other albums, this will treat you to her signature voice, plus more adventurous riffs and rhythms. My main addition to the other reviews is that if you have a good stereo, you'll want the Japanese pressing, which has great clarity, detail, imaging and rich, tuneful bass. Some audiophile disks are ones you are *supposed* to like just because they are recorded well. This is one you *will* like. It partners well with the JVC XRCD pressing of Patricia Barber's "Companion". Both are outstanding as stereo audition disks and as ones to kick back and luxuriate in.

One thing that can be said about Holly Cole is that she seldom dissappoints. Her smooths vocals and beautiful arrangements, makes you want to slip back and imagine some smokey, dimly lite jazz clubs that does not open until midnight.

If you love "Don't Smoke in Bed", you will want to own this one.

I took a chance on this CD since I've been hearing great things about Holly Cole. I must say I love her crisp, clear, cool voice. It is so refreshing to listen to her and to her type of music.

I listen to this CD over and over...have always been a fan but this cd is by far my favourite....I don't walk the dog without it, go to work listening to it..and I've had it for 4 months now...know every word....sorry I missed her in TO last weekend - far prefer this to Norah Jones which I also listen to quite a bit!!

Cole has depths that allow her to project an aura through simple moves in many styles of small-group jazz, from cool, sophisticated minx to warm, American sweetheart. I like her more at her tauter, cooler, "knowing" end. My picks reflect my taste more than relative merits of tracks. Players differ from track to track; they know her and each other well--very tasty. All tracks are covers of songs by Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, Brian Wilson, Oscar Hammerstein, Lorenz Hart, Richard Rodgers, Alan Jay Lerner, Frederick Loewe, Johnny Mercer, others. She makes every song her own; all the songs I know are created anew here. Available only as an import (!). Strongest tracks are labeled "S" below.

1. Heatwave (S). "A heat wave blew into town last week; came from the isle of Martinique"--and she captured it perfectly just for us. Very cool heat. Holding it back pumps the pressure up. The jazzers flash more and more all around her as she keeps her personal heat in check, weaving cheekily (can-can) through them.
2. Something cool. Traditional standard-type jazz. Laid back, quietly smoky. Cole+tasty/spare po. Upright bass edges in, then discrete massed strings. She talks casually with a new interest at a bar--nonchalant or enticing, maybe both. Massed strings rise dangerously (and uncharacteristically) high in the mix.
3. Too darn hot (S). Funky, plucky upright bass, then spare drums, then Cole. A variety of others join to trade off. An aura forms around her incisive voice, reaching out to her players on the outer circle of her power. Coolly sexy--low-key and very much in control. Beats the Red Hot version all to hell!
4. God only knows. Brian Wilson! Soft, quiet, warm, creamy, lovely, no edges. Cole+piano+discrete drum kit; others enter late in an ever-spare setting. Takes Sophie Anne von Otter down.
5. A cottage for sale (S). Traditional American song-book opening hands off to a funky stride piano walking the bass line and a clipped throaty organ. She practically waltzes nonchalantly through the tight, clipped, blowsy (is that all possible at once?) web set by her players. Spirited choruses of New Orleans brass.
6. We kiss in a shadow. Cole+music-box-tinkling piano. Quiet, warmly innocent.
7. It never entered my mind. Lightly swinging, low-key, sweet reflection on a relationship. Cole+piano mainly. I see a couple walking hand in hand under tree-shaded street lamps.
8. Manhattan (S). Quick, 6/8-time, Latin jazz shuffle. Players cruise in a loping, clipped groove; she emotes in tight voice, washing a serpentine route over the players' fine blanket of moves.
9. Moonglow. Kitty-cat purr whispers through a spare, pearly setting--moon glow? Low-key but fat. "I always remember that moonglow gave me you."
10. Almost like being in love. Dead quiet, spare--Cole+piano +upright bass. Her voice mingles mistily in the wispy setting. Then ba-da-boom! The track picks up to a tightly clipped mode and presses forward in a fuller setting. Finger-popping cool.
11. The midnight sun. Quiet, spare, glowing setting. Dated, over-blown American song-book lyrics, recited in firm, wiry lines through this setting. Her voice waxes and wanes from verse to verse. Fine in its way, but not for me.
12. Lazy afternoon. Lazily lounged out in long, spare lines of piano, upright bass behind Cole. I yawn as I listen. Warm sun, light breeze, snooze.

Shade, in my opinion, is a pale shadow of the listening experience offered by Temptation.

It's nice in a damning way - nice as in the safe date you can show to your parents and they won't worry.

Damning with faint praise?

Indeed.

This is Holly Coles old song cd. Her interpretations are unique, but they grow on you. What is most striking is how well she is recorded here. I have a high resolution audio system, and she is "live" in my room. I love her work and this is among my favorites.