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Category: Music
JUNE 2009
CD Feature:
Irene and Her Latin Jazz Band -
"A Song of You"
Jazz is a tainted term, ill with prejudice and cliche. But even its creative pains pale in comparison to the genre of Female Vocal Jazz. Artists like Norah Jones and Katie Melua are just the tip of the iceberg for a category held together by the flimsiest of definitoric parameters. Today, “the female vocalist“ can be influenced by anything from Pop to Classical Music, perform both at sizable concert halls and intimate theatres and build a fan base consisting of hip youngsters and experienced aficionados alike. Their diet, too, no longer exclusively consists of “Standards“. Instead, a whole world of original material and works from adjacent genres is waiting to be imported, assimilated and digested. The territory of creative competition has shifted. Instead of battling it out over the most heartfelt and plaintive interpretation of a popular piece, creating cohesive concepts of sound, instrumentation, repertoire, visual presentation and cross-medial links is increasingly turning into the main artistic task.
Seen from this perspective, “A Song of You“ is all but an anachronism. Supported by an exquisitely pussyfooting band, multilingual and classically trained Irene Nachreiner follows in the footsteps of her “Summer Samba“ debut, dishes up a program of classic Latin tunes (including Cole Porter's “It's Too Darn Hot“, Jobim's “Triste“ and Joao Gilberto's “Bim Bom“) and takes her audience back to the Karaoke Bar at Bora Bora where she was discovered in a fairy-tale like entry to the biz. The dreamy swing of her musical partners creates a kind of lush Bossa-vibe nestling comfortably in between 60s French arthouse cinema and the unreal vibe of a cocktail party hosted by David Lynch on Mullholland Drive. Irene, meanwhile, excels in a cool eroticism that would make the captain of a cruise ship stop in his tracks and forget all about the steering wheel in the middle of a field of icebergs.
Irony has it that “A Song of You“ sounds most retro in its most contemporary moment, Irene's rendition of Sting's “Fragilidad“, which almost makes you feel confused about which of the two versions the original is exactly. On the remaining tracks, however, the album remains unperturbed by the kind of roots-oriented nostalgia, which may turn some New-Jazz albums into the hottest stuff in town for a few weeks but ultimately renders them dispensable as soon as another trend pops up. This is music that some may discard as “fluffy“ or “sugary“ but which ultimately comes across as honest and direct on closer inspection. Recommended if you like Michael Buble, her distributor says, but mimicking the production and techniques of successful blueprints is exactly what Irene does not want. Her second album is a no-frills effort which is about nothing but songs, voice and subtle craftsmanship - and that makes it a strangely compelling proposition for all those looking for a truly independent alternative to the mainstream canon.
2:10 AM
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