Jackie Allen - Which ?

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 1999
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 63:58
Size: 146,9 MB
Art: Front

(2:13)  1. Too hot for words
(4:22)  2. Day dream
(5:50)  3. Doodlin'
(5:36)  4. Lost in the stars
(4:11)  5. Dearly beloved
(4:10)  6. My romance
(5:14)  7. In you go
(4:36)  8. Left alone
(3:36)  9. I was a little too lonely
(3:30) 10. Which
(4:27) 11. Admit it
(4:49) 12. I'm just a woman
(3:16) 13. It's bad for me
(3:42) 14. The meaning of the blues
(4:21) 15. The last dance

Integration. Jackie Allen’s Which? is the second vocal release from Naxos Jazz. The budget label broke the ice with Gail Wynters’ 1998 release My Shining Hour (86027-2). Allen’s breathy sensuousness is a good label foil for Wynters’ earthy purring. Both vocalists hold the impeccable Bill Cunliffe on piano, Allen also having him as band leader, arranger, and associate producer. She employs Grammy-winning Ralph Jungheim as her executive producer. The Naxos Jazz stable continues to accumulate major jazz talent with appearances by Red Holloway playing his no-nonsense tenor and Gary Foster his cerebral alto. Differentiation. Jackie Allen’s voice is frankly alto, a reality that neatly works in her favor on the current collection of standards and originals. A snapshot of the cuts reveals a sexy, quirky “Too Hot For Words”, a smoky, smoldering “Doodlin’”, and an almost choral “Lost in the Stars”. Cole Porter’s “Which?” hosts a Red Holloway solo that showcases his 12-gauge blues sensibility and Roy McCurdy’s simply splendid march drumming. Allen’s own “Admit It” finds Foster waxing poetic is his own alto way. The torch of the disc is “I’m Just a Woman”, with lyrics and a deliver that would make NOW blanche, then blush (with a super Holloway R&B solo to boot). Never Let Down. Jackie Allen finds herself in the company of excellent musicians and her considerable talent profits from the Naxos Jazz approach which has framed her wounded yet playful alto range with a warm ornament analog sound (Just check out the bass duet on “The Meaning Of The Blues” and Bruce Paulson’s humid trombone on “The Last Dance”). Recommended. ~ C.Michael Bailey https://www.allaboutjazz.com/which-jackie-allen-review-by-c-michael-bailey.php

Personnel: Jackie Allen (vocals); Gary Foster (alto saxophone); Red Holloway (tenor saxophone); Bruce Paulson (trombone); Bill Cunliffe (piano); Jim Hughart (bass); Roy McCurdy (drums).

Which ?

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Jackie Allen - Never Let Me Go

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 1994
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 55:27
Size: 127,0 MB
Art: Front

(4:38)  1. Teach Me A Song
(3:24)  2. I Didn't Know What Time It Was
(4:35)  3. Lucky To Be Me
(5:38)  4. Moon And Sand
(4:40)  5. Never Let Me Go
(5:31)  6. I'm All Smiles
(4:25)  7. I Chase The Sun
(3:08)  8. Old Chair
(2:58)  9. What We Thought Was Real
(6:00) 10. So Wrong (Lullaby For The Past)
(3:50) 11. It's All Right With Me
(6:36) 12. Detour Ahead

Jackie Allen's vocal style falls somewhere between jazz and cabaret. She swings nicely on the medium-tempo selections during her well-rounded debut but she also takes many of the ballads quite straight, bringing out the beauty of the lyrics but adding little of her own to the songs. Greatly assisted by pianist Willie Pickens with guest spots for the tenor of Edward Petersen and fluegelhornist Art Davis, Allen is at her best on "I Didn't Know What Time It Was" and "Detour Ahead" but less interesting on her own occasionally precious originals. ~ Scott Yanow http://www.allmusic.com/album/never-let-me-go-mw0000623805

Never Let Me Go

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Jackie Allen - Tangled

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2006
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 49:30
Size: 113,9 MB
Art: Front

(5:51)  1. When Will I Ever Learn
(3:42)  2. Coal Grey Eyes
(4:17)  3. You're Nearer
(3:26)  4. If I Had (Angel's Lullaby)
(4:25)  5. Tangled
(4:03)  6. Slip
(5:05)  7. You'll Never Learn
(3:36)  8. Everything I've Got Belongs To You
(3:45)  9. Hot Stone Soup
(3:16) 10. Do Wrong Shoes
(5:03) 11. Solitary Moon
(2:56) 12. Living Without You

While it's clearly a pop album, Tangled has a light, jazzy feel. John Moulder's smooth jazz guitar, Steve Eisen's gentle flute and several keyboards back up Jackie Allen's lovely voice with an easy-to-like ambience. Allen delivers an expressive, convincing session. The singer uses her voice, whispery and coated with smooth silk, to interpret this program with a relaxed ease and subtle passion. Allen leaves an enjoyable wake behind every song. Her eighth album, both contemporary and filled with an appreciation for personal forms of communication, is designed for broad audience appeal. Tangled, Allen's title song, features dramatic electric guitar and a deep blues sensation. "If I Had floats on a gentle bossa breeze, while "You're Nearer emphasizes the dramatic qualities of her expressive voice.

A vocalist should be comfortable with folk, country, pop, blues and jazz. With Tangled, we get a little bit of each. Slip features electric piano and a horn section in a soulful strut. "Hot Stone Soup and "Cold Grey Eyes provide reflections of New Age themes. Donald Fagen's "Do Wrong Shoes, the album's best track, provides an opportunity for Allen to swing. As Randy Newman's "Living Without You closes the program with a country & western feel, you can't help absorbing Jackie Allen's emotional pull. She gives her audience a personal reflection of her inner soul that everyone can enjoy. ~ Jim Santella https://www.allaboutjazz.com/tangled-jackie-allen-blue-note-records-review-by-jim-santella.php

Personnel: Jackie Allen: vocals; Steve Eisen: flute, tenor saxophone; Orbert Davis, trumpet; John Molder, guitar; Ben Lewis, piano, electric piano, organ; Laurence Hobgood, piano, electric piano; Hans Sturm, bass; Dane Richeson, drums, percussion; Yvonne Gage, Eric Hochberg, Suzanne Palmer, Sue Conway: background vocals.

Tangled

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Jackie Allen - Love Is Blue

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2004
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 47:11
Size: 108,2 MB
Art: Front

(3:51)  1. Lazy Afternoon
(5:01)  2. Go
(3:29)  3. The Performer
(5:04)  4. Love Is Blue
(4:02)  5. Moon Of Deception
(5:15)  6. Pavement Cracks
(3:52)  7. Here Today
(3:52)  8. Turnin' Around
(4:29)  9. Taste Of Honey
(4:02) 10. You Become My Song
(4:06) 11. I'll Be Around

Although very much a jazz singer, Jackie Allen explores music on Love Is Blue that crosses over style-wise into 1970s pop and singer/songwriter material. There are versions of two veteran standards ("Lazy Afternoon" and Alec Wilder's "I'll Be Around") but most of the repertoire, which deals with the darker side of love, is made up of recent originals (including "Go," which was co-written by the singer) and music taken from the pop world. 

Allen has a flexible voice and sounds fine on the ballad-oriented material, but the lack of mood variation makes this set of less interest than expected. It is well performed but not essential, despite the talents involved. ~ Scott Yanow http://www.allmusic.com/album/love-is-blue-mw0000204729

Personnel: Jackie Allen (vocals);  Hans Sturm (acoustic bass, double bass);  John Moulder (guitar);  Frank Glover (clarinet);  Laurence Hobgood (piano);  Rob Mathes (Fender Rhodes piano, organ, keyboards);  Dane Richeson (marimba, drums, percussion).

Love Is Blue

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Jackie Allen - My Favorite Color

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2014
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 54:07
Size: 125,3 MB
Art: Front

(5:41)  1. Sleepin' Bee
(3:54)  2. Mercy, Mercy, Mercy
(6:45)  3. My Man's Gone Now
(7:33)  4. Blame It In My Youth
(7:06)  5. Manic Depression
(4:08)  6. Stuck In the Middle With You
(4:17)  7. A House Is Not A Home
(4:33)  8. Diana
(6:03)  9. Born To Be Blue
(4:04) 10. Call Me Winter

Eight years’ absence from the recording studio has done nothing to diminish Jackie Allen’s allure. The voice dusky, mellow and wise is as spellbinding as ever, now shot through with a captivating world-weariness, her folk-rock roots clearly showing. Though My Favorite Color’s inclusive playlist includes a tender, bruised “Born to Be Blue,” the album’s title is to be taken figuratively, Allen exploring various musical hues and shades that intrigue her. There are jazz standards: a lithe “A Sleepin’ Bee” that seems plucked fresh from an antebellum plantation; a gorgeous, near-baroque rendering, alone with guitarist John Moulder, of “Blame It on My Youth”; and an extraordinary “My Man’s Gone Now” that progresses from woe to rage before it settles into resigned gloom. There’s a delightfully curious assortment of rock and pop hits, stretching from the depths of Jimi Hendrix’s “Manic Depression” and dejection of Bacharach and David’s “A House Is Not a Home” to the sass and slither of Stealers Wheel’s “Stuck in the Middle With You,” its funk gloriously reimagined by a collective that includes keyboardist Ben Lewis, drummer Dane Richeson, bassist Hans Sturm, trumpeter Tito Carillo and saxophonist Steve Eisen. Finally there are Allen originals, two exquisite pieces: the lilting “Diana,” a cautionary tale of abandoning bohemian freedom for fenced-in security; and the icebound “Call Me Winter,” a labyrinthine voyage of self-discovery co-crafted with Illinois Poet Laureate GE Murray. ~ Christopher Loudon http://jazztimes.com/articles/132339-my-favorite-color-jackie-allen

Personnel: Jackie Allen (vocals); John Moulder (guitar); Ben Lewis (keyboards); Hans Sturm (double bass); Dane Richeson (drums, percussion).

My Favorite Color

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