Brenda Earle Stokes - Motherhood

Styles: Vocal And Piano Jazz
Year: 2024
Time: 55:14
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Size: 127,9 MB
Art: Front

(5:00) 1. The Endless Wait
(4:25) 2. This Is Your Childhood
(4:54) 3. Who Am I Now?
(5:05) 4. Where Are the Mothers?
(6:35) 5. Kathleen
(6:51) 6. Loose Tooth Blues
(4:57) 7. Saying Goodbye
(8:11) 8. Sharp Edges
(5:24) 9. The Strength of a Woman
(3:48) 10. Happy Mother's Day

Motherhood is a salient subject if ever there was one. Yet few jazz musicians ever touch on it in their work, never mind dedicating an entire record to the topic. The real or keenly felt need to keep up with the Joneses in a musical atmosphere that typically applauds and promotes standard bearers, hyper-masculine happenings, politically charged firebrands, and cutting-edge quests doesn't leave much room for an honest and open-hearted look at the scope of selflessness and self-discovery involved with maternal matters. The truth is that it takes serious bravery and being real two things that are in surprisingly short supply nowadays to show yourself and share a good deal about this journey, and Brenda Earle Stokes is one of the seemingly few willing to go here.

Consciously or not, this Canadian-born, New York City-based pianist-vocalist-composer began to contemplate exploring motherhood through song as she captured thoughts, fragments and lyrics in a notebook while pushing her young son's stroller around her neighborhood. Eight years later, during a residency at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, Stokes armed with her written musings, voice memos, perspective and experience(s) wrote eight compositions in nine days, essentially birthing this project.

Few stones are left unturned here as Stokes gives a candid look at motherhood in her own inimitable voice. "The Endless Wait" the opener, with some of the leader's most moving singing, plus ace trumpet work from Ingrid Jensen offers outward expression for the mind in pregnancy, contemplating possibilities, time and ties to the generations. In doing so it introduces confessional qualities in Stokes' songcraft that carry across the entire program.

Whether taking us through wonderful yet trying years of growth during "This is Your Childhood," processing identity at once lost, subsumed and discovered through parenting on the questioning "Who Am I Now?," exploring beauty and body issues (and society's role in aggravating and propagating both) in the gently flowing "Where Are The Mothers?," or the increased responsibilities and stresses that squeeze a woman with school-aged children on singer-songwriter gem "Kathleen," Stokes has a knack for removing blinders that a significant portion of the civilized world intentionally or willingly wears when it comes to matters of motherhood. And her bandmates Jensen, bassist Evan Gregor, drummer Ross Pederson, backing vocalists Melissa Stylianou and Nicole Zuraitis use their expertise to help flesh out her clear and communicative vision at every turn.

Weighty matters logically dominate this discourse, but Stokes has a real way of softening some of the blows and/or adding humor in her delivery. She uses "Loose Tooth Blues" as a hip trip into a second-grader's shoes, presents Mr. Potato Head as prime fodder in a talk of letting go and moving on during the emotion-raising "Saying Goodbye," and offers a rundown of modern society's ever-present dangers with humor-streaked, beat poet brilliance in "Sharp Edges." And when all of that is played, sung and done, there are the celebrations a supremely soulful "The Strength of a Woman" and laudatory "Happy Mother's Day" which elevate those who deserve to be on a pedestal ever so high in the sky. May this be the start of a jazz trend to recognize motherhood in all its truths, difficulties, joys and wonders.By Dan Bilawsky
https://www.allaboutjazz.com/motherhood-brenda-earle-stokes-self-produced

Personnel: Brenda Earle Stokes - voice and piano; Evan Gregor - bass; Ross Pederson - drums; Ingrid Jensen - trumpet; & Nicole Zuraitis - backing vocals

Motherhood

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Brenda Earle Stokes - Right About Now

Styles: Vocal And Piano Jazz
Year: 2014
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 62:30
Size: 143,8 MB
Art: Front

(5:46)  1. It's High Time
(4:40)  2. In September
(5:51)  3. Water Into Wine
(4:59)  4. The Letters on the Pages
(3:07)  5. Balao Em Minha Cabeca
(6:29)  6. (Meant) For You
(4:59)  7. Everything I Love
(5:07)  8. Right About Now
(7:16)  9. She Sings
(5:48) 10. The Birthday Song
(4:23) 11. Got the Time
(4:00) 12. Let My Love Open the Door

Is Brenda Earle Stokes primarily a vocalist, a composer, or a pianist? That's an unanswerable question if ever there was one. The marketplace typically forces artists to list their chief credential first, making it easier to categorize and pigeonhole them, but that's a problem for Stokes; she's equally talented in all three areas, as demonstrated throughout Right About Now. This album marks Stokes' return to recording after a five year hiatus. During that time, her life, outlook, and approach to music evolved and settled into a new space. Marriage, the birth of a child, and the passage of time all managed to alter and deepen her perspective, but Stokes' longtime fans need not worry about things being too different. She still has that same attractive sound, with a gentle-yet-weighted voice and playing style, and she still uses the three-pronged approach to song presentation that worked on Songs For A New Day (Allsheneeds, 2009), delivering originals, a classic or two, and contemporary fare; she just does so with greater ease, comfort, and emotional range. The album opens with a bluesy odd-metered original that's firm in conviction ("It's High Time"). That initial sign of strength is then washed away by the wistful "In September," a tale of a romance with a summer-long lifespan. Egberto Gismonti's "Water Into Wine," featuring Stokes-penned lyrics, follows, proving to be the most affecting song on the program. 

A sense of longing, obsession and desire all come through during this mesmerizing and heart-wrenching number. Stokes goes on to visit all sorts of other places across the nine tracks that follow. Her wordless vocals gleefully bound along during the sprightly, Brazilian-based "Baiao Em Minha Cabeca," snazzy swing surfaces in the form of Joe Jackson's "Got The Time," and Stokes looks at the many faces of love on "(Meant) For You," "Everything I Love," and "Let My Love Open The Door." All of those pieces manage to make an impression, but "The Birthday Song," which finds her mulling over life as it exists at the age of thirty-three, is more emotionally potent than the rest. The crew that Stokes works with seems tailor-made for her brand of music. Bassist Matt Aronoff and drummer Jordan Perlson balance firmness and sensitivity in their rhythmic pursuits, guitarist Steve Cardenas is a wonderful colorist, and saxophonist Joel Frahm is a man for all moods. Together, this collection of musicians makes for a great team that helps Stokes document life as she knows it and sees it on Right About Now. ~ Dan Bilawsky  http://www.allaboutjazz.com/right-about-now-brenda-earle-stokes-magenta-label-group-review-by-dan-bilawsky.php#.U7YpD7F8eM0
 

Personnel: Brenda Earle Stokes: piano, vocals, rhodes, triangle; Matt Aronoff: bass; Jordan Perlson: drums; Steve Cardenas: guitar; Joel Frahm: saxophone.

Right About Now

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