Rating:
Genre:
Vocal Music
Release Date: 08/28/2007
With ensemble
vocal jazz, the danger is always that tight and complex harmony writing will come across as too smooth and too sweet -- for some reason, chords that sound sharp and bracing when distributed among reed instruments can sound cloying and overly slick when sung by human voices. The vocal/instrumental quartet
New York Voices don't avoid that trap entirely on their latest album (and their first as an ensemble in seven years), but they continue to demonstrate their mastery of the genre with a solid program of new and old songs and innovative arrangements. Their take on
"Darn That Dream" is startlingly new (and features a fine bass clarinet solo by
Bob Mintzer), and the lyrics that group members added to
John Coltrane's
"Moment's Notice" work very nicely. Not everyone will agree that the world needed a
vocal jazz version of
Laura Nyro's
"Stoned Soul Picnic," but
the New York Voices' version is really lots of fun and is sure to bring a nostalgic tear to more than one baby-boomer eye. Apart from a couple of saccharine moments on
"In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning," A Day Like This is a pleasure from start to finish. Recommended.
~Rick Anderson, All Music Guide
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