DISCOVERIES: Ben Folds' "Selfless, Cold & Composed" (A Capella)

I'm not terribly familiar with Ben Folds' work, though I have enjoyed a couple of tracks that his group, Ben Folds Five, has contributed to compilation albums over the years. Yesterday, Folds released a striking approach to his past work with BEN FOLDS PRESENTS: UNIVERSITY A CAPELLA! It's exactly what you would expect from the title: a bunch of university a capella choirs performing his music. While I haven't finished listening to the entire thing, there is already one performance that has literally rocked my world--The Sacramento State Jazz Singers performing "Selfless, Cold, and Composed." It's a brilliant choral performance, and happily you can catch it on YouTube here:



Perhaps it's not for everyone--I'm admittedly a huge fan of choral music and have always been entranced by the power of harmonizing voices writ large--but I can't imagine failing to recognize how kickass this rendition is, between the insistent sung percussion lines and thick, gorgeous unison chords backing really lovely featured vocals. Simply astounding!

DISCOVERIES:Holly Yarbrough's "Mister Rogers Swings!"

Recently I had the pleasure of seeing the off-Broadway show "Everyday Rapture". The show features star Sherie Rene Scott covering an eclectic selection of songs that were important to her as she was growing up. I was dumbstruck by some of the pieces she chose to sing because they were such touchstones of my own childhood and adolescence, including Harry Nilsson's "Life Line" (from the animated movie "The Point") and Tom Waits' "Rainbow Sleeves", one of my favorite heart-breakers.

Most astonishingly, Sherie performed a mini-set of songs from "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" and identified Fred Rogers as a seminal figure in her life, teaching her self-love and self-confidence (traits that were frowned upon within the spartan Mennonite community of her youth.) Upon returning home from the show, I jumped online to see if I could find any recordings of Fred Rogers' music, and that's how I stumbled across last year's release of MISTER ROGERS SWINGS!


Vocalist Holly Yarbrough is the star of this appealing piece of brilliance, featuring jazz arrangements of 16 of Roger's television tunes. Yarbrough is terrific, delivering cheerful (never saccharine) interpretations of the Rogers' oeuvre with the assistance of a small combo (they are equally wonderful). I suspect you won't believe me when I say that they pull off these performances without a trace of kitsch, but they manage it somehow. You'd expect "a kid's album" but it's really not that at all; it's sophisticated, heartfelt jazz. It's also proof of Rogers's own talents as a composer in his own right (he received his BA in music composition).

There's not a bad track on the album. In fact, the best songs are those where things could most easily have veered into irony, with a wink and a nod. Instead, Yarbrough wrings real passion out of "Then Your Heart Is Full of Love" and brings a clever simmer to "I Like To Be Told". Appealing voice, ingenious arrangements, brilliant concept (someone should win a Grammy just for having the idea); I can't recommend it enough.

HOLLY YARBROUGH on MySpace

YOU SHOULD KNOW: M.J. Williams

M.J. Williams is a sublime vocalist. She is also a Montana native and a jazz trombonist (of all things). Her solo album, I CAN HEAR YOUR HEART (1999) has been a favorite of mine for many years. Two subsequent albums, each featuring a talented jazz trio (shifting configurations of bass, piano, guitar, and drums) have become equal aural pleasures.

Williams, like another of my favorite vocalists, Jimmy Scott, favors holding long extensions of notes that emphasize the effect of the voice as a member of an instrumental ensemble of equals (as opposed to a lead vocal being supported or "backed" by the instruments.) These extensions cast such a languid spell that you can forget you are listening to a song with words. Williams delivers the lyrics beautifully, but the end result (to my ears at least) is one of enjoying a tapestry of sound more than focusing on the words of the song.

Most of these tracks are jazz interpretations of real classics like My Foolish Heart, The Nearness of You, or Rodgers & Hart's Lover. Also featured are songs composed by Thelonius Monk, Antônio Carlos Jobim, and Pat Metheny, as well as Williams' bass player, Kelly Roberti. Throughout these albums Williams voice is gorgeous--with a solid, mellow center not unlike the timbre of Dianne Reeves' voice.

To my knowledge none of M.J.'s work has had anything like a major-label release, and a quick search reveals nothing via amazon or iTunes. It does look like you can get some of Williams' albums (as well as listen to mp3 samples) at this link:

SHOP FOR M.J. WILLIAMS AT WORLD JAZZ SCENE ONLINE

Of the albums I have, none feature Williams' skills on the trombone, but she's undoubtedly a vocalist well-worth getting acquainted with!