The final day of the North Sea Jazz festival in 2010 was one of the warmest days of the year. It was in fact so warm that I used my festival program as a fan in some of the halls. The Dutch soccer team was playing the world championship final that evening, but I didn’t care. I was at the festival to see Elvis Costello and Rickie Lee Jones, and of course some great jazz music. After Elvis Costello’s set they didn’t allow any more people into the Hudson hall for Ornette Coleman’s set, so I had to look for something else.
I found something in the festival program that looked interesting: a jazz vocalist backed by a piano trio. So off I went to the Missouri tent, to find a girl singing barefoot, using plastic bottles filled with rice as shakers (some of their equipment got lost), singing music by Stevie Wonder, Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter, singing in a way I had never heard anybody sing before. Sometimes very rhythmic, like a female Al Jarreau, at other times very light and breezy, sometimes nearly whispered. I was amazed.
Today, 3 1/2 years later, I still am. Even though I have played her albums In A Dream and The Lost And Found to death over the last few years and saw her live again last year in Rotterdam, this new live album still blew me away when I first heard it earlier this week. Parlato is in top form on this excellent live set which draws from the 2 aforementioned albums. The album is well recorded and all of the musicians really get to shine, especially pianist Taylor Eigsti.
It starts off amazing right away with Herbie Hancock’s “Butterfly”. Her studio version already blew away Hancock’s original, but this live version tops it. Her vocals are amazing, especially on the nearly whispered moments during the final verse and Taylor Eigsti delivers a stunning piano solo halfway through. Eually impressive is her version of Lauryn Hill’s “All That I Can Say”. It starts off much slower, before switching to the studio version’s funky beat for the piano solo and final verse. The way Eigsti is playing piano with one hand and Rhodes samples with another hand is just amazing.
“Alo Alo” isn’t that different from the studio version, but it’s percussion heavy Brazilian sounds work well in a live setting so it’s good to have it included here. The beautiful “Within Me” has always been one of my personal favourites, this live version with the rhyhtm section of Alan Hampton and Mark Guiliana beats the version from In A Dream. It flows beautifully into Simply Red’s “Holding Back The Years”. with a beautiful piano riff by Taylor Eigsti and her wonderful delivery she makes the song completely her own.
Another highlight is her version of Wayne Shorter’s “Juju”. Her vocals and Eigsti’s hypnotic piano are so beautiful that I don’t even miss Dayna Stephens’ saxaphone from the studio recording. “Weak” is full of energy and makes a nice change from the slow and intense mood of the rest of the album. “On The Other Side” was the first song I fell in love with at the North Sea Jazz festival in 2010, it comes out great here, but sadly the wonderful middle section is significantly shorter than on other live recordings. Maybe some editing going on here, or the band is just keeping things more concise because they know a live album is being recorded.
This already brings us to the closing track “Better Than”, one of her own compositions. Beautiful Fender Rhodes from Taylor Eigsti and the audience providing the aaahs at the end turn this into something more special than the original version found on The Lost And Found. The CD misses the bit where Parlato teaches the audience the backing part and also the final applause. Isn’t it quite strange that a live album suddenly falls silent and ends? Fortunately both are included on the DVD.
Which brings us to the 2nd disc in this album, a DVD featuring 4 songs from the CD. Even though it’s incomplete and the picture quality is very disappointing it’s nice to have. It also sounds more dynamic than the compressed CD. The packaging is very disappointing, especially compared to her other releases which were pretty well done, but with so much great music I’m not complaining.
A great place to start for first time listeners, but also a very worthwhile addition to the collection for fans who already own the studio albums. Parlato’s best release to date and one of the most enjoyable jazz albums I’ve heard in recent years. So to the man who didn’t let me into the Hudson hall at North Sea Jazz I say thank you. You’ve led me to some very beautiful music.
Gretchen and me in Rotterdam last year, photographed by Taylor Eigsti.
Add Some Music To Your Day 