PUCCI AMANDA JHONES,
SWEET DREAMS,
2 CADENCE JAZZ 1088.Call
Me l Sunday Kind 0f Love l Trouble In Paradise l Day By Day l Our Day Will Come /
Poinciana / Until You / Harlem Noctume / Red Top / Lazy Afternoon / I Got Rhythm. 57:0l.
Jhones, vcl, arr; Kenny Barron, p;
Hilliard Greene, b; Dwayne "Cook" Broadnax, d; Casey Benjamin, as; Karl Martin
Almquist, ts; Morten Faerestrand, g; Kenyatta Beasley, tpt. 2/28/97, Brooklyn, NY.
The story is that Ms.
Jhones arrived home from an engagement in Timbuktu or Brobdingnag, or some such unlikely
venue, tired, but impatient to keep the impetus of her incipient career in forward mode.
So, as soon as she hit her front door, she dropped her luggage in the foyer and raced to
the telephone to round up some musicians of her acquaintance for a recording date. This CD
is the result, and due to the urgency with which she approached the taping, and allowing
for certain scheduling pressures, such as those impinging upon Kenny Barron who had no
time to rehearse, this was a case in which the participants simply came, saw and, in their
fashion, conquered the music at one extended session. That the music is as good as it is
must be largely credited to Ms. Jhones who, not only applied her silky alto instrument to
these eleven strangely mixed vehicles, but also fashioned all the arrangements except for
'Harlem" and "Afternoon." Strangely mixed because the inclusion of a pop
trifle like "call Me" and a pop cliche such as "Day Will Come" might
suggest that she has some unresolved issues with regard to a pop/soul/Jazz path a la
Gloria Lynne or the current Ernestine Anderson. Methinks that would be a mistake, because
the rest of the program indicates that Pucci Jhones is much better than that. Her
improvisery skills allow her to bend meter and melodic line, and she has the good sense
(and taste) to eschew the deconstruction of familiar tunes as do, say, Betty Carter and
Sheila Jordan. Thus, this singer slows "Day By Day" down to a walk, and wrings
from its very natural lyric flow considerably more depth than it usually affords. Her
"Sunday Kind" and "Poinciana" are only superficially conventional.
Listen carefully and you will note the subtle adjustments in accentuation that make these
very personal interpretations. Terence Conley's arrangement of "Afternoon" makes
use of a rhythmic tension not ordinarily associated with the song. Jhones zeros right in
and takes advantage of the opportunity offered. "Trouble" and "Until' are
ringers of a sort. Perhaps they come from some reservoir of pop flotsam in which I have
never drifted, which in the case of the former I seriously doubt, since its narrative
stream is both coherent and literate, but here they are both used to optimum effect.
'Trouble' gives Jhones a setting in which to show she knows how to torch with the best,
and "Until' a chance to show that she can overcome the banal with a confidence born
of a wholesome dash of chutzpah. If the irony intended in slowing "I Got" down
to imply the rhythm becomes a drag about half way into its 7 plus minutes, I'm ready to
forgive and forget, because the lady's willingness to take risks should not be
discouraged. She comes up a winner often enough. Barron, of course, is the bulwark of the
accompaniment, with his responsive and inventive fills under-scoring the date's Jazz
integrity. Kenyatta Beasley also deserves special mention. I've heard him only once
before, on an Oliver Lake mit strings CD, and I am given to understand that he currently
maintains some sort of student status. His muted and open horn, wherever they appear in
support of Ms. Jhones, are well placed and tasty. Overall, the CD leaves the impression
that we are witnessing what could be the birth of a major Jazz voice.
Alan Bargebuhr |
