Beautiful Life (Concord Records)
Dianne Reeves
Released February 11, 2014
Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album 2015
Jazz FM Album of the Year 2014
YouTube:
https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=i0Jw7LV0Ah0&list=OLAK5uy_nh_Xmmw1owMoDC8Z5nSuPt4HTFH4C2jhg
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/album/0naOTrcdQCCA5HHPZD4YUR?si=a03djBw5SV290MjR-gW6YA
About:
The album showcases Reeves’ sublime gifts by melding elements of R&B, Latin and pop within the framework of 21st Century jazz. “At its essence,” says Reeves, “Life is beautiful and I wanted to celebrate that which is too often overlooked.”
There should be no overlooking Beautiful Life, a journey of 12 songs which includes singularly memorable covers of Bob Marley’s “Waiting in Vain,” Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams,” Marvin Gaye’s “I Want You” and Ani DiFranco’s self-empowering “32 Flavors.” Included in the rest of the tracks, which cover the spectrum from jazz to soul, are two new songs “Cold” and “Satiated” which are emotionally volcanic. Produced by Terri Lyne Carrington, Beautiful Life features an all-star cast that includes bassists Esperanza Spalding and Richard Bona, vocalists Gregory Porter and Lalah Hathaway, pianists Robert Glasper and Gerald Clayton and Reeves’ cousin and frequent longtime collaborator George Duke.
Reeves, a four-time Grammy winner, has recorded and extensively performed with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra and Wynton Marsalis, who said of Reeves, “She has one of the most powerful, purposeful and accurate voices of this or any time.” Reeves has also recorded with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra conducted by Daniel Barenboim and was a featured soloist with Sir Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic. In addition, she was the first Creative Chair for Jazz for the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the first singer to ever perform at the famed Walt Disney Concert Hall. Reeves appeared throughout George Clooney’s award winning Good Night and Good Luck and performed every song on the Grammy-winning soundtrack. More recently, Reeves has toured the world in a variety of contexts including a program entitled “Sing the Truth,” a musical celebration of Nina Simone in which Liz Wright and Angelique Kidjo were also featured.
Track Listing:
1. I Want You (Arthur Ross / Leon Ware) 4:57
2. Feels So Good (Lifted) (Terri Lyne Carrington / Dianne Reeves / Nadia Washington) 4:25
3. Dreams (Stevie Nicks) 5:19
4. Satiated (Been Waiting) (Terri Lyne Carrington) 5:38
5. Waiting in Vain (Bob Marley) 6:35
6. 32 Flavors (Ani DiFranco) 5:26
7. Cold (Terreon Gully / Peter Martin / Dianne Reeves) 6:13
8. Wild Rose (Esperanza Spalding) 5:50
9. Stormy Weather (Harold Arlen / Ted Koehler) 8:02
10. Tango (Dianne Reeves) 6:35
11. Unconditional Love (For You) (Geri Allen / Dianne Reeves) 5:42
12. Long Road Ahead (Peter Martin / Dianne Reeves / Peter Sprague) 3:59
Personnel:
Dianne Reeves: vocals
Piano: Peter Martin, Gerald Clayton, Robert Glasper (3)
Keyboards: George Duke (2), Bobby Sparks, Robert Glasper, Cédric Hanriot, Ray Angry, Leo Genovese
Organ: Shedrick Mitchell, Bobby Soarks
Guitar: Marvin Sewell, Dwight Sills, Carl Burnett, Leandro Pellegrino
Acoustic Guitar: Romero Lubambo, Nadia Washington (2)
Bass: Reginald Veal, Christian St. Louis, James Genus, Richard Bona, Esperanza Spalding (8)
Congas: Sheila E.
Drums: Terreon Gully, Terri Lyne Carrington
Percussion: Munyungo Jackson, Leonardo Osuna
Trumpet: Sean Jones (1), Ingrid Jensen
Vocal Trumpet: Raul Midón (10)
Alto Saxophone: Tia Fuller
Soprano Saxophone: Tineke Postma (9)
Harmonica: Grégoire Maret (12)
Flute: Camille Thurman
Programming: Terri Lyne Carrington
Guest Vocals: Gregory Porter (4), Lalah Hathaway (5)
Backround Vocals: Nadia Washington, Terri Lyne Carrington, Esperanza Spalding
Recorded at Kaleidoscope Sound, Union City, NJ,
Additional Recording at Bobby Sparks Enterprises, Mesquite, TX, Highend Studio, New York, NY, Rocky Mountain Recorders, Denver, CO and Wellspring Sound, Acton, MA
Producer: Terri Lyne Carrington and Ray Angry (track 6),
Recorded by Jeremy Loucas
Mixed by Erik Zobler (track 6), Jeremy Loucas (tracks 1 to 3, 7, 11, 12), Martin Walters (tracks 4, 5, 8 to 10)
Mastered by Paul Blakemore
Photography by Jerris Madison
Art Direction: Albert J. Roman
Review:
Throughout her career, Dianne Reeves has, perhaps more than any other vocalist, blurred the line that separates jazz from pop and contemporary R&B, extending the boundaries of each. Beautiful Life is her first recording in five years and her debut for Concord. Carefully produced by Terri Lynne Carrington, the musical cast includes Robert Glasper, Esperanza Spalding, Reginald Veal, Sheila E., Sean Jones, Gregory Porter, Gerald Clayton, Richard Bona, Lalah Hathaway, and her late cousin George Duke. The opener is a thoroughly inventive Carrington arrangement of Marvin Gaye’s “I Want You,” which underscores the gossamer quality in Reeves’ voice and jazz phrasing, sacrificing none of the original’s seductive soul — it’s as much of the spirit as it is of the flesh — and features a fine trumpet solo by Jones. A brilliant reading of Stevie Nicks’ “Dreams” is introduced by Terreon Gully’s tight, woody rimshots and Glasper’s gospel piano and ethereal keyboards. Reeves subtly draws on her gospel roots in the lyric amid skittering breaks and beats. Nadia Washington’s lithe backing vocal floats amid the atmospheric textures before Reeves carries it out with Afro-Latin scatting. Carrington’s “Satiated (Been Waiting)” is a sensual, sultry duet with Porter. Colored by horns, piano, electric guitar, and Duke’s subtle keyboard treatments, its singers wed the gospel of Ray Charles and the blues of Nina Simone to jazz. Bob Marley’s “Waiting in Vain” is introduced by a glistening synth before Glasper’s piano, and Romero Lubambo’s nylon-string frame the melody. Reggae, bossa, and even a languid mambo wind through as Hathaway soars in the background, supporting the ache in Reeves’ delivery of longing and affirmation with Afro-Caribbean scatting in the bridge. It’s followed by a groove-laden funk redo of Ani DiFranco’s “32 Flavors,” with backing vocals by Carrington and Washington; Jones’ layered trumpets pop amid wah-wah guitars and keyboards. It’s sexy as hell. Spalding’s “Wild Rose” is airy, jazzy R&B highlighting Reeves’ trademark gift for syncopated phrasing. A thorough reconstruction of Harold Arlen’s “Stormy Weather” teams Reeves’ steamy contralto and effortless falsetto with Tineke Postma’s soprano saxophone and Peter Martin’s glistening piano arpeggios. Soul and contemporary pop and jazz are threaded through the original melody, underscoring its reputation as a “standard.” Reeves’ own “Tango,” with Raul Midon, commences as one, but her wordless vocal improvisation and the simmering percussion are derived from Afro-Cuban sources. As a result, the tune mutates first into rhumba and then a furious salsa, with the singer soaring above the erupting rhythmic fury. Closer “Long Road Ahead” — an original — seamlessly combines neo-soul, jazz, and gospel. The unwavering conviction in Reeves’ voice is gracefully and elegantly complemented by Gregoire Maret’s harmonica. Beautiful Life is Reeves’ finest record to date. It not only blurs genre lines but erases them. The end result is glorious, accessible R&B drenched contemporary jazz that is as sophisticated as it is honest.
Thom Jurek (AllMusic)
